by J. J. Keller
“Got it. Give me yours, and I’ll forge a path.” He pivoted. Three other Special Forces, dressed in the ugly camouflage taupe and green, flanked him. “Ben to the right, Conrad to the left, and Tyler do you still have that cowboy pistol on you?”
Short, but with a beautiful square jaw, Tyler stepped forward, waving a gun with a wooden handle and dark gray barrel. “Always.”
“Aidan’s injured,” Skogul insisted. “We must rescue him.”
“Copy that. First we need weapons.” He glanced at the bridge. Frasier, in wolf form, hackles raised, upper lip curled in a savage snarl of warning paced back and forth guarding Hayden. A horde of ebony mists pressed in on the two.
“With only one viable weapon, I’ll go first and Mac will guard our backs.”
Tyler nodded, finger pressed to the trigger.
“Unless the bullets are made of salt and iron, they won’t do any good,” Hayden shouted.
Harrison pivoted. “Tyler, are they?”
He flipped the cartridge open. “Not to my knowledge.” He held the cylinder outward. “Silver.”
“Captain,” Conrad shouted as a demon attacked from his right side.
Frasier jumped on the dark form, but the demon left Conrad with a burn along his arm.
“Let’s go.” Harrison waved his arm, urging them forward.
He led the way. Skogul trailed in the surge of receding shadowlike figures.
Her unlikely band of defenders wrenched mystical rods from the stack. Armed, they formed a circle and side-by-side fought the spectral shapes. Harrison’s men yowled in pain as they received cuts and burns.
Skogul sidled to Harrison. “If I don’t make it, help Aidan. Ask Kiara to name the baby after me. She better become the best Valkyrie—ever.”
He snorted and rammed a rod through one of the cold black masses. “Have faith, Skogul. We’ll win the day.”
Time slid by like a slow motion scene in a science fiction movie. This battle of good versus evil would end with a field of mangled supernatural creatures. Skogul shuddered. A pack of wolves did this every day, anticipating an attack. Admiring the wolves, she desired to experience more, to learn their ways.
At the approach of dawn, they’d eliminated the demons, leaving a pile of ebony dust under their feet.
Aidan!
Skogul ran to the embankment. She took a deep breath and released it. He wasn’t there.
Her heart hurt. She could feel the beats as the organ pumped blood through her system. No, he must be here. Her knees weakened, she bent trying to gain some strength and touch the ground, hoping he was camouflaged like Harrison did in battle, blending into the environment. Her breath caught as she fell forward and slammed her fist on the cold hard ground.
He’d disappeared. Into a puff of gray dust?
A hand touched her shoulder. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Aidan’s gone.” She lifted upright. Harrison stood at her side. The others crowded around her. Even Frasier, transformed into human shape, crouched naked and bleeding. “Hayden, did you see him?”
“No,” Hayden whispered. Tears leaked and puddled on her cheeks.
“Frasier?” Skogul choked on her own vowels.
“The last I saw my brother, he was there.” He nodded to the embankment. “I couldn’t get—”
“Skogul, we need to go. My men need tending.” Harrison stared at the teen.
“Hayden stays here.” Frasier straightened and stood beside her.
Skogul moved forward, pole in strike mode.
“Before you say anything she can’t go with us,” Harrison said.
“I want Aidan,” Hayden whispered, saying the words Skogul silently chanted.
Skogul glanced from the spot she’d last seen Aidan to Frasier. “She can’t stay here. This could happen again.”
Frasier snarled and gripped Hayden’s arm. “Today Haley’s comet returned. It won’t happen again, not for many years.”
Skogul wiped her face and shook off the pain. “Harrison, I can’t go with you.”
“Your mission has been completed.” Harrison stuck the rod into the ground.
“No. I need to help Hayden.” She took the girl’s hand. “Together, we’ll find Aidan.”
“Skogul—”
She dropped her pole. “Don’t argue, Harrison. I promised my…” She started to say love and Harrison would understand, but others would not. “Loyalty.”
“He’s gone, Skogul.”
Her heart hurt again, painfully striking her ribcage.
Hayden tightened her grip. “Frasier, please let me go with Skogul. Mother…”
Skogul frowned. The witch needed to learn a lesson.
“Skogul, you can return another day to look for him. Now, the portal is open, come!” Harrison clasped her free hand.
Her power, including mind-reading abilities had been returned, and at this time she wished she couldn’t see into his thoughts.
“No, I refuse to believe I’ll never see him again. If possible, could you have Hayden and me transported to Pure, Indiana?” She shot a glance at Frasier.
Frasier nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover her trail.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kiara circled the perimeter of the Special Forces Conference Room. A celebration for the incoming Einherjars took place in the palace, and she should be in attendance. Instead, she worried and paced like a mother hen. She glanced out the two-story curved windows, hoping to see her husband.
The world screen in Heimdallr’s viewing room had exhibited the dismal scene in Canada. Skogul’s conquering valor, while admirable, faltered. Slices, cuts she’d obtained so far, made Kiara shiver in fear. She’d always teased her friend about the underworld, and how evil came out of nowhere. Vibrant bloody images appeared on the screen from those very real nightmares. Swallowing the nausea, she walked away. Had Harrison gone into a situation even as a supernatural he wasn’t equipped to handle?
Her heart thumped faster as she tapped the windowpanes twelve down, twelve back. Odin, please don’t let anything happen to my love.
Skogul’s clue about using the iron rods to battle the black things that came from the door was helpful. Yet, something was missing. The last she knew, the wolves weakened under the onslaught of attack, and even the child, Hayden, grew tired.
She touched her protruding belly, a small bump. Pivoting, she tap, tap, tapped the cold windowpanes and licked her dry lips. What was taking so long?
“Kiara.” Göndul’s reflection, in the fingertip speckled window, looked dire.
Tweet had returned moments earlier. Had Göndul discovered Kiara’s involvement in Skogul’s mission or could she have news, bad news? The nearest stable item to grip was a barrel of javelins in the corner. Kiara clung to the edge of the barrel, ignoring the bite of metal into her palm. “Harrison?”
“No, he’s fine. Aidan. He’s agreed to become a member of our select group.”
Kiara released the barrel and lowered onto the nearest chair. Thank, Odin. Harrison remained safe. “As an Einherjar?”
Odin, she hoped not. Skogul loved this man. She hadn’t admitted it, yet, but Kiara knew they were meant to be together. As an Einherjar he’d become a mindless soldier among soldiers.
Göndul smiled, a soft spread of pink lips. “No. He’ll join Harrison’s group as the vet for the horses and other beings we, ah, secure.”
****
Four weeks later, Aidan Hall’s home, Pure, Indiana.
“I like what you’ve done, Hayden.” Skogul walked around the perimeter of the bedroom, touching a football player bobble head, an artist’s poseable model, and other knickknacks along the way. Frost covered the corners of the windows, yet to be burned off by the sun.
“Thank you.” She shut down her laptop, twisted in the desk chair, and crossed her jean-clad legs. A simple black cable knit sweater made her look ethereal.
The light gray-blue walls were adorned by framed paintings and charcoal drawings. In contrast
to the beauty of the artwork on the east wall was a life-sized portrait of a teen singing idol.
Oddly enough, her decorating focus wasn’t on wolves, rather rabbits—lop-eared bunnies, fat roly-poly cottontails, and four-legged replicas straight from Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit books.
Skogul perched on the edge of the bed, smoothing the silver-gray comforter. “Are you making friends at school?”
“Yeah. It took a few howls.” She twisted a button on the light blue cable blanket on the back of her chair. “A guy in my history class has agreed to tutor me. He’s coming over, later.”
How should she approach the subject of Aidan? The possibility existed he wouldn’t be returning. Each night Hayden shared stories of their youth, recounting Aidan saving animals and helping people. In the next few minutes, she’d have to bring up the subject of Aidan’s likely demise, and what the future held for them. She vowed to watch over her for as long as necessary, to keep the girl from her mother’s evil clutches. Hayden had too much talent and sweetness to be a guardian for Hell or a breeder. She turned toward her friend and sighed.
“We just need to be patient.” Hayden’s gray-blue eyes glimmered with tears. She waved her hand though the air. “I know.”
“How?” The color of her eyes, so like Aidan’s, made Skogul’s stomach clutch and her heart pound harder.
“Not that I want to, but sometimes your thoughts come to me, like a flash flood I can’t avoid.” She cocked her head. “You can’t read mine?”
“Oddly enough, no. I couldn’t read Aidan’s either. Trust me, it would have been helpful on many occasions.” She took a breath, trying to ease the pain in her chest.
Hayden picked up a pencil and her sketchpad. “But your powers have been returned, and you can read human thoughts.”
“How—”
“I saw you interact with the postman the other day.” Hayden shrugged again. “I read both of you and could tell you were in his head.”
“Hum, there’s more to you than I anticipated.” She laid her arms at her waist. The teen had seen too much blood, gore, and evilness. “I want you to have fun. Try to stay out of people’s thoughts and just be a normal teen. Have girl fights. Fall in love.”
“You miss your friends. Do you regret not going back to your home?” The wise girl didn’t glance up from the pad of paper. “Or leading your squad of Valkyries?” Words seemed to catch in her throat.
A stupid tear dimmed Skogul’s vision. She jumped from the bed, knelt beside Hayden’s chair and put a hand on her arm.
The watery shimmer in her eyes dug a hole in Skogul’s core. “Aidan saved my life. I love him. Together we’ll expand our search. Over spring break, we’ll travel north.” Pain ripped through her. She’d forfeited her chance to excel as a Valkyrie leader and possibly lost her love, all in one day.
Hayden dropped her sketchpad and pencil on the desktop. “Even if we don’t have any clues?” Her voice caught. “We don’t know if he’s alive.”
“He is alive.” Skogul held her head, wishing all the misery hidden inside would stay there. She squashed the desire to brawl like a little baby and jumped to a stand. Turning slightly, she swiped her sleeves across her eyes. “Come on. We’re going outside for a little sun. We need light.”
“Ok,” Hayden whispered. “Let me get carrots for Titan.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Hayden walked along the corridor toward the kitchen and Skogul went into the master bathroom and picked up a tube of vanilla lavender lotion. She squeezed a dollop of liquid on her hands and rubbed the fresh scent over her arms. Over the last few weeks whenever she felt—lonely—disheartened, she’d apply the lotion and transport back to the intimate moments with Aidan. “I’m not giving up. I want to hear you say you love me, and not just about the way I smell.”
She hurried to the kitchen, grabbing their jackets along the way. Hayden took a bunch of organic carrots, for Aidan’s horse, from a basket on the table. Skogul put on her coat and snatched a couple of bottles of water.
“Ready?”
Carrots under her arm, Hayden zipped her soft shell jacket and opened the door. “Yes.”
Skogul blinked at the bright sunlight and inhaled the fresh scents of baled hay and harvested corn. The peacefulness brought her a moment of serenity and familiarity.
“Aidan.” Hayden hoarse announcement drew her attention.
Skogul dropped the bottles of water. They thumped on the ground. Sun distorted her sight. Objects in the foreground danced. She closed her eyes, trying to make them adjust to the light change faster. He wasn’t real.
A cold hand pressed on hers, shaking her. “Skogul.”
She glanced in the direction of a familiar voice. “Göndul.”
“Are you okay?” Her mentor and friend, of sorts, stood in front of her dressed in her ceremonial garments. The shiny silver and lavender gown seemed out of place in the barren clearing. Orange, red, and golden leaves splattered across hard ground, covered by brown grass, casting a pall on the gown’s long train. The precious stone at the end of her staff glittered, reflecting on the stark empty branches.
A few steps away Aidan glimmered with equally glistening skin. Hayden embraced him, holding him close.
“Yes.” Skogul licked her lips. “You had him all along?”
“He chose to save your life, giving up his own existence. We found his valor and dedication to you and his kind, worthy. On the battlefield, we offered him the opportunity to join the Special Forces group.”
“I didn’t get to say goodbye,” she whispered. Rage built, like she hadn’t experienced in weeks, flooding her with warmth. “And you chose not to tell me? To not let me know the truth, or where he was all this time?”
The woman had the nerve to laugh, a soft low chuckle just under her breath.
“Shall I bow in gratitude?” Vibrant sharp fire sent Skogul’s stomach quivering. “What happens now?” She needed to know, before Aidan stood in front of her.
Göndul raised an eyebrow. “I assume you still want to be the leader of all Valkyries.”
Skogul glanced at Aidan. He and his sister strolled hand-in-hand toward the corral. The gray and white horse ran toward them.
Aidan. She loved him. How could she leave him? She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. “I would be honored to be the leader of all Valkyries, but—”
“You’ll prepare the vet and find out the secrets of the wolf. In two years, you will be granted the role,” Göndul said, in a matter-of-fact, brisk tone.
A large black car drove into the circle drive, drawing Hayden’s attention from her brother’s side. From the youthful appearance of the driver, Skogul guessed the teen’s study partner had arrived. She ran to meet him, the bunch of carrots flapping against her side.
Aidan strode toward Skogul.
Her focus never left him. He maintained the stare, never wavering. She bit the inside of her mouth, wanting to feel pain, to bring this dream into reality. Once she held her love in her arms all matters of war would disappear.
All the anger she’d experienced in the last few minutes dissipated. Regardless of Göndul’s method of taking him and keeping his whereabouts unknown, Aidan had become one of them. He wouldn’t have been offered the choice if he wasn’t near death during the battle. He’d risked and almost lost his life saving her from a demon. If Göndul hadn’t stepped in taking control, Aidan would have vanished in a pool of wolf dust.
“It was the best solution to the problem,” Göndul said.
She met her leader’s turquoise gaze and nodded.
“Am I interrupting?” Aidan’s typical relaxed stance had changed to military stiff.
Her breath caught. Why didn’t he grab her and never let her go? She inhaled, getting a whiff of his natural scent.
Göndul turned to Aidan. “I leave you in good hands. When you are ready to leave here, when your sister is safe and grown, you and Skogul will join Odin in Valhalla.”
“I understand. Tha
nk you, for all that you’ve given me.” Aidan bowed.
“I bid you goodbye.” Göndul lifted the hem of her dress skirt and disappeared, leaving a whiff of sage scented air in her wake.
“I thought she’d never leave.” Aidan grabbed her, clung tightly to her so their bodies were perfectly aligned.
Skogul closed her eyes for a moment, wanting this to be true and not a reoccurring dream. A horse whinnied. She glanced toward the corral.
Hayden stood at the fence, feeding a carrot to Titan. Her friend held the rest of the bunch like a bouquet of flowers. He couldn’t hear them, but Hayden would hear everything.
“Skogul.” Aidan’s voice had a new strength, an undeniable power.
She leaned, pressing her nose against his neck. “I couldn’t save you.” She inhaled. “I thought you were…that I’d never see you again.”
“Shh.”
“I love you.” She’d harbored the words for so long, they forcefully streamed like the cleansing of a fire hydrant.
He pulled her away, keeping their bodies touching, but looking directly into her face. A glint appeared in his eyes. His arms around her felt so right. “I love you, Skogul of Asgard.”
She choked back a sob. Over the past year she’d become a sappy romantic.
“You grow more beautiful each time I see you.” Aidan moved her blouse aside and ran his fingertip over her scar. “You’re fully healed?”
“Yes. I proudly bear battle wounds. Harrison is very impressed.” She chuckled, releasing all the fears that had been churning for the past few weeks.
“As he should.” Aidan placed his hands on each side of her face. “I hated to leave you, especially battling demons. Imminent death created a choice, and I wanted to spend eternity with you, so I chose life.”
Tears leaked from her eyes and having adjusted to the anomaly, she embraced this emotion of tenderness. Her heart thumped harder against her ribs. “Me too.”
He exhaled.
And kissed her, merging their lips with endless perfect pressure, creating a memory that would last for infinity.
Love, indeed, was grand.
A word about the author...
jj inherited her name and creativity from her grandmother. A love of reading and adventure took her to many wondrous places. Studying literature provided a solid foundation in which to express her ideas and storytelling became a part of her world. She wants to share with you all of the magic, so please enjoy pieces of her life through her tales.
