“I curse you now Bard!” Eluf roared.
Tait’s eyes shot open when a pole was slammed down inches away from them with a horse head impaled on it.
The Nidstang.
That’s when he realized Lauren’s cheek now rested on his lap, not the other way around. He pulled her against him protectively and shook his head, confused at first.
Then everything became clear.
Eluf was weaving a protection spell within a curse.
“I curse he who seeks to harm this union. They shall be drawn to the Nidstang and will unknowingly assist these souls in coming together. Might harm meant for these dragons become harmful to the enemy, instead.”
Wind rushed around them as the curse sealed itself. It almost seemed like a stampede of wild horses ran around them, the power and intensity of it palpable, before it came to an abrupt end.
Bard roared one final time in the distance before the sound faded away.
Then, little by little, the Nidstang vanished as well.
“It is done,” Eluf said softly as he met Tait’s eyes. “You and your mate have done well by your people.”
Tait nodded and looked at Lauren, eager to share, only to find her eyes closed. At first, he thought she slept, then alarm grew as his dragon senses took over, as he looked at her more closely.
“Lauren?” He shook his head as he struggled to hear the sound of her heart, even the whispered response of her voice in his head.
“As you were so greatly weakened when you gave Maeva a piece of your soul,” Eluf said. “So too was your mate when she gave you a piece of hers.”
Tait shook his head as the truth finally dawned on him.
Lauren had died…for him.
“I can bring her back.” He tried to connect with her mentally, his anger building at the enormity of what she had done for him. “I did it before. I can do it again.”
Yet the moment he tried he knew it was already far too late. He struggled to hold onto her but like everything else, she was fading away.
“No, do not go, my mate,” he said, again and again, desperate to keep her, but seconds later she had vanished altogether.
“As it was when you lived this life before,” Eluf said. “From now until the end of your days, you will live it alone. Because of you, her lineage survives. Because of her, you’ll live to protect your people from the wrath Bard will now bring down on you. You sacrificed greatly for each other, for your people and hers. It is the anger in this life you feel having lost her that will fuel your anger when you find her again. It will ignite when any distance is put between you.”
Well, that made sense because Odin knew the anger he felt at losing her would surely be everlasting. Profound. Personality-altering.
Now Eluf’s cryptic forewarning made perfect sense.
Keep safe Bjark’s blood to keep safe Einar’s. By saving Meava, he had kept her lineage safe. And by Lauren giving up a piece of her soul for him, he, in turn, would live to keep his people safe. Yet it came at such great cost. Her death. Their ultimate separation.
Suddenly, all he could think about was how Mema Angie had pointed out his reference to ‘the other side’ when speaking about Lauren. Had that been at the root of all of this? That he and Lauren inherently knew they would be separated from each other. One would live, and one would be on the other side. And had that not manifested in a curse that kept them separated before it, at last, brought them together?
“Why the Nidstang?” he whispered. “Why something so ominous?”
“A curse is a curse, my boy and the spirit of a horse is strong,” Eluf said. “More than that, dragons and horses rarely get along yet they protect your Viking ancestors, do they not? So what is one man’s curse can be another man’s protection.” He shrugged. “So it lured yet cursed Bard’s reincarnate, Hallstein while it protected you.”
Tait had heard the story about a horse that saved one of his ancestor’s souls and knew his father got along with horses quite well. He supposed the best thing to keep in mind, in this case, was that the spirit of the horse was no longer with the Nidstang but perhaps, an extension of it.
“The moment you met, the curse began to unravel. A means to make you both remember, to find the strength you will need to move forward,” Eluf declared. “While cast on your enemy in one life, your curse has lifted in another now that your souls have truly reconnected. Because of all you were willing to forfeit in one lifetime, you have rediscovered great power in another.”
That’s when it finally occurred to Tait he was no longer the man he once was but had returned to himself. That meant that though Lauren was dead here she must still be alive in his century, or hers.
Sharp relief washed over him. “Where is she?” He came to his feet quickly and struggled to keep his balance. “Where is Lauren now?”
“Safe. Waiting.” Eluf held out his ash staff. “Back where it all started.”
“The ash tree…or Yggdrasill,” he murmured. “The tree that connects our nine worlds. Even, sometimes, our multiple lives.”
Tait thought of the ash tree he and Lauren grew up around then the one in Maine. Then there was the one Samantha summoned and even the one from Lauren’s childhood. “They’re all connected, aren’t they?”
“They all played a part in getting you where you needed to go,” Eluf said softly. “And to remind you where you have been.”
“Thank you,” Tait said. Though the curse had been difficult, it had been a blessing. “What you have done for our tribes has been…”
“Necessary,” Eluf interjected. “You and your mate have come far, but trouble is nowhere near over for your people. At least now, the new dragon tribe is awakening, and you are finding your mates. You have gained much so far. A Demi-god Seer, Gateway Seer and one of the fiercest dragons born to Midgard who can move faster than the enemy’s ability to slow down time. And then there is what you Sigdir dragons become as your hearts awaken. Stronger. More powerful. United.”
“It is time for you to return, dragon.” Eluf continued to hold out the fading ash staff. “Fight well and might the wrongs of the past be made right.”
Tait nodded as he took hold of the staff and everything began swirling around him, including Eluf. For a split second, he was standing in the remains of a burnt tree and handing over a charred branch he had picked up in another life. One he gave to the seer so that he might someday find his mate again. That the ash tree they had spent so much time at would somehow lead her back to him.
Magic twisted around the burnt branch before it became Eluf’s staff.
Then everything spun away, and he ended up in the last place he expected.
His dragon lair.
What he found there, however, was even more unexpected.
Chapter Eighteen
“YOU SHOULD TRY to get some rest, Lauren,” Amber said. “Before you wear out all my children.”
“She is not wearing me out,” Runa declared.
“Or me,” Kadlin agreed.
“Or me.” Kodran yawned and grinned even as his sword clashed with Lauren’s. “At least not the way I want her to wear me out that is.”
“She’s your brother’s mate, Son,” Kol reminded, his eyes often skirting to the cave entrance, eager as the rest of them to see Tait again. “You will want to remember that when he returns.”
For hours Lauren had been practicing fighting with Tait’s siblings. For that matter, she’d been at it for days. It was the only thing that kept her mind off him. How much she missed and worried about him.
She had returned over a week ago without him and only managed to keep herself sane by learning how to fight. Gone were the days of crawling within her mind. There were no more doors or hallways left. The moment she gave him a piece of her soul, she was completely free not only of the curse but all that had repressed her. It didn’t seem to matter that it technically happened in another life.
Initially, she had appeared beneath the tree at the Fortress where they were first pulled back thr
ough time. Sam had been there, grateful that she had finally located her. Apparently, she’d been trying for a few days at both the tree in the future and the one further up the mountain. Everyone was relieved to see her but concerned about Tait.
Not half as concerned as her, though.
Why hadn’t he returned with her? What happened to him? After hearing her story, Heidrek and Bjorn seemed confident that Tait would be all right. They would know if their brethren had died.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, little Håkon had indeed gone missing, but he wasn’t alone. Kjar was with him. And though Aella hadn’t heard from her husband since, she did not feel he was in harm’s way. That he and the boy were safe. As expected, that wasn’t nearly enough reassurance for Matthew, and he had set out on a quest to rescue his son.
Since then, Lauren had spent time with Cybil and Sam and caught them up on everything.
“So you and Tait,” Cybil said with approval. “I’m so glad to hear it.”
“Me too. He needed to be tamed a little.” Sam winked at Lauren. “And you needed to loosen up. A lot.”
“I agree,” Lauren said. “Mostly.”
When Cybil perked her brows in question, Lauren shrugged. “I think Tait needed to be tamed more than a little.”
“Be careful,” Sam warned with humor. “You know that old saying about suffocating a man…or a dragon in this case.”
No sooner did she say it, Sam put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sis. That was a bad play on words.”
Lauren knew her sister was referring to Tait suffocating on his own blood in another life.
“There is nothing to be sorry about,” Lauren assured, pushing past the memory, content in the knowledge that he had lived on. “It will not be necessary to control or tame Tait in the least.” A small, knowing smile came to her lips. “He will be mine alone or not at all.”
“Hell, yeah,” Sam murmured with approval.
Though Cybil wanted Lauren to remain with her and stay in Tait’s lodge until he returned, she decided against it. She wanted to return to where she felt most connected to him.
The Dragon Lair.
So here she was days later, still waiting, still trying not to grow sadder, trying to stay strong.
“Ah, see what happens when you let your mind wander to my brother too much,” Kodran declared. “I get past your defenses—”
His words cut off abruptly as she drove her knee toward his groin only to be blocked. But it was just enough to catch him off balance. She took advantage and swiped his leg out from under him. He laughed and came right back at her. They moved quickly, blocking each other’s hits and kicks before Amber finally announced that enough was enough. It was time to eat.
Lauren thanked her but refused food. Her appetite had been lacking more and more, and she knew why. She was heartsick. Lonely in a way she had never been before. She might put on a brave face, but they all knew the truth.
She missed her mate.
Yet she wasn’t alone in her sadness. They felt the same. That’s half the reason his family remained here at the cave with her and took turns fighting with her day after day. Not only to keep her company but to be there when he returned. While she was desperate to fill in her time any way she could, his parents and siblings were doing the same thing. They worried about him every bit as much as she did.
Like always, after everyone retired, she sat on the edge of the ash bed Tait had made for her and stared at the ocean. Waiting. Hoping. And like the past four nights, she eventually did the same thing. Embraced her dragon and curled up on the shore. She never cried. Refused to. Because if she did, that meant she was accepting the worst.
That he would never return.
The enemy had somehow defeated him in both lives.
“No,” she whispered to herself, refusing to believe it as she curled up tight and closed her eyes. Tait would return. He would find his way back to her.
As she did every night, she dreamt about their ash tree in another life. About their vast memories there. Most times she dreamt of the tree when it was alive and well but not always. Sometimes she dreamt of it going up in flames just like the one in Vermont had. Flames she now knew were all part of the process that brought them together. So not only them but the ash tree had sacrificed…had given its life. Not once, but twice.
Tonight she dreamt of ashes, the remnants of lives now long gone.
Her childhood.
Then another lifetime with Tait.
Yet it wasn’t all bad, and she knew it deep down.
“No, it wasn’t,” a woman agreed as she knelt over the smoking ashes of the tree. At first, it was the tree in Vermont but soon enough became the ash in Scandinavia.
Because of her connection with Tait, she knew exactly who the woman was. “It is nice to finally meet you, Näv.” She cocked her head. “What are you doing?”
“It’s nice to meet you as well, Lauren.” Näv pulled what she had been holding free from the fiery ashes.
“She is creating a blade,” Astrid said, appearing alongside Näv.
“The blade,” Freyja added, appearing on her other side.
“The Gungnir blade,” Lauren whispered, staring at all three sisters as Näv stood with the jagged-edged blade in hand.
“Yes, this is the blade I produced for Samantha and Bjorn’s dragons so that they could find one another,” Näv explained. “But that was only a step along this dagger’s journey. It was created long before that.”
“A scary journey,” Astrid said.
“That started a long time ago,” Freyja finished.
“Well, right here, actually,” Astrid continued.
“To help a long time ago,” Freyja added.
“A blade forged in the ashes of dragon love,” Näv continued. “A blade whose power was reignited when you embraced your dragon in the twenty-first century, Lauren.”
“A dragon lineage unlike any other,” Freyja began.
“One with great magic,” Astrid continued.
So Näv must have traveled back in time to create it. That was the only logical explanation. Lauren sighed. There was no doubt Näv knew far more than she was letting on. But then the same could be said about her fellow seer Vigdis. Yet another person in all this who seemed to be one step ahead of everything happening to them.
“There are some things I cannot share because it is not my place to do so,” Näv said softly. Her eyes never left Lauren’s. “Then there are things my sisters and I can do because of who we are. Things that are sometimes taken from us. Kept secret. Memories that are not ours to keep.”
Lauren narrowed her eyes. “You did someone else’s bidding when you made the blade didn’t you? Eluf’s?”
Yet she had to wonder why he wouldn’t just make it himself.
“Yes, it was someone else’s bidding but no, not Eluf’s,” Näv said. “Nevertheless, you should take comfort in this because I only do the bidding of those with good intentions toward the Sigdir tribe.” She gave Lauren a knowing look. “And is it not safe to say, your lineage is at the heart of all good intentions made toward the Sigdir dragons?”
“It is,” Lauren tried to say but her words were swept away as readily as Näv and her sisters until she was left alone standing in the ashes.
At least at first.
“Only you could save it,” came a soft murmur. “And now you have. Both of you have.”
At that moment all she could think of was how strongly she felt about the ash tree back home. And how after Tait arrived she had the overwhelming impression that only she could save it. Lauren blinked several times and narrowed her eyes as a man with two braids hanging from his goatee appeared, crouching with a handful of ash. Yet another person she had yet to actually meet but knew because of her connection to Tait.
“Kjar?” She frowned, confused. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Håkon? Where is Håkon?”
“From these ashes, the tree in Vermont will grow.” A small smile curle
d his lips. “And from these ashes, I will create the tree in Maine.”
She started to argue, to ask more questions, but suddenly found comfort in his explanation. The tree in Maine would survive. It had to. Because even though Sam could transport people through time now, there was more to this. To the blade. The tree. Everything. This version of Kjar was from the past. Wherever he was now, Håkon must be safe. Right?
“Lauren?” whispered through her mind. A blink later, the tree was no longer a pile of ashes but lush and healthy.
She smiled as her dream manifested into something far less intense. Something she supposed would be worth dreaming about time and time again.
“You hid well this time, didn’t you?” she murmured.
A black dragon cocked its head around the trunk. He wasn’t as small as before but certainly not as large as he would become. Early teens in human years maybe? “I hid well enough that it took you forever to find me. A few lifetimes anyway."
What an interesting turn of phrase all things considered.
Lauren smiled as she remembered the day...the memory.
“I have been looking for you for far too long,” she agreed. “I hope it will be easier to find you next time.”
“Well, in your defense, I am very good at what I do.” He considered her. “But maybe I should make an exception for you.” The black dragon kept grinning, quite pleased with himself as he leaned against the tree. “If I made you my mate, you would always be able to find me.”
Her heart skipped a beat just like it did back then.
“Are you asking me to be your mate?” she said, curious and excited.
“No,” he said as if his response was pre-planned. She remembered how annoyingly crushed she had felt until he said, “Unless you want me to be.” He stared at her, his eyes growing wider. “Do you want me to be?”
“Only if you want to be,” she shot back, unwilling to meet his eyes, too afraid of what she’d see. “Because I really like the idea of being able to find you.”
“Me too.” Then he was there. Close. Closer than he had been. “Will you be my mate then?”
Her dragon peered up at him. “Can we be mates without the ground shaking and the roars and ahhs?”
Soul of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 3) Page 26
