“We often played in the mountain, Revna,” Raven said softly, remembering. “You showed me every little corner.” She wiped away a tear. “Showed me where the most powerful areas were for seers.”
Raven’s attention went to Cian, and she wiped away another tear. Tor saw her memories of the wizard as a child, then a young adult, then a grown man. “And you taught me spells I was able to use because I had inherited not just Celtic godliness from Destiny but magic from you. Then at some point, you held fast to all our memories for when we needed them again.”
Surprise lit Raven’s eyes as more came to her. “We not only grew up together as children, me a wraith and you solid, but you time-traveled once you were grown to make sure I stayed on track? From finding me outside the cave in New Hampshire to seeing me to Tor for the first time. Because you were an adult both times.”
“The only juncture in which I time-traveled was when I sent Trinity's newborn dragon spirit in the right direction.” He shook his head, confirming Raven’s suspicions. “Your memory of me being outside the cave was nothing more than a trigger put in place by you to start remembering all this. Your first encounter with Tor was a means to bring me here at the right time.” He glanced from Tor back to her. “Your initial meeting with Tor went much the same way, only I wasn’t there. There was no need. You haunted all three of us from the beginning without any assistance.”
“Why did I meet up with Tor in this mountain, though?” She frowned. “Why when it was dangerous for him?”
“Because it wasn’t all that dangerous for him as you’ve seen yourself.” Cian gestured at their surroundings. “And you’ve already seen clearly why you chose this place. It was the only spot that could handle your inner Vanaheim. The only place outside of your grove in Ireland and the woodland surrounding the Forge that could house such magic.”
“Because in spirit form, I was still very much submerged in Vanaheim,” she realized. Her gaze shot to Cian in alarm. “That's how Mórrígan kept track of me, isn't it?”
“Yes,” Cian confirmed. “Because she was there when you first emerged from Vanaheim, she was able to soak up some of that world and your connection to it. That's all she needed to keep an eye on you over the years.”
“Hence the raven following me.” She glanced at Tor. “Us.”
“That's right.” Cian handed over some meat.
“I feel like there's more to this, though,” she murmured. “A bigger picture I’m missing. And I’m positive it has something to do with Mórrígan making me solid so I could be with Tor.”
“You will remember everything soon enough, Raven.” Cian set to eating. “Until then, ‘tis best to let things unravel as they will.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Raven considered the three of them. “So I obviously haunted you guys, but what about your connection to each other? Revna and Tor were friends, but it looks like Cian and Tor spent time together as well.” She perked a brow at them. “Hence you fighting over me.”
Cian explained what Tor had realized minutes before. How all of them would love her in some way. “So it couldn’t be helped.” The wizard popped some meat in his mouth. “Despite being clear where you stood from the beginning, Raven, there was bound to be some bickering.”
“Ja.” Tor couldn’t recall how much but did realize one thing. “But only ever in spirit form.”
“That’s right,” Cian said. “Though we rarely did it, we had,have, the ability to haunt each other every bit as much as Raven did us. We’re all that connected.”
“So many revelations,” Raven said, still digesting everything. “And more memories just out of reach.” She narrowed her eyes at Cian, determined, it seemed, to figure out one above all. Something gnawing at her. “Whatisit? What am I forgetting? Because it’ssoimportant.”
“Ja,” Tor said, picking up on her dragon’s growing distress. Realizing how important it was. Yet it stayed beyond his reach. Other memories continued to surface, though. Memories he could hardly believe he forgot. He couldn’t help a small smile. “I felt you pass through me in my mother’s womb, Raven. I felt your power fill me. Heal me. Bring me back to life.” He squeezed her hand. “You held my dragon’s heart from that day forward.Myheart.”
“So much so that you followed me to the grove in Ireland,” she realized, frowning. “You could have diedagain, you know?”
“But I didn’t, thanks to Loki.” He shrugged, knowing if he were in his tiny unborn spirit once more, he would do it all over again. “You weren’t just my soulmate but my dragon’s other half. I would follow you to the end of time just to keep you safe.” A shiver went through him. “Because even then, I knew something wasn’t right. That you were in danger.”
“Because of Mórrígan,” Raven muttered. “Someone I clearly forgot but remembered again along the way. Someone who saw me born but at what cost?” She shook her head and looked at Cian and Revna. “And why again did sheevergive me solidity when I visited Tor? What was her angle? Because she definitely had one.”
Raven chewed some meat and thought about it before continuing. “It had to have been because she wanted to control me after we Forged. Bringing us together like that was the only way to do it.” She looked at Revna. “Going off that premise, why would I have ever felt the need to possess you? What transpired in between to make Tor and I forget everything, not to mention cause me to create an obstacle course of seer safeguards in this mountain?”
“All in good time,” Revna assured. “You’ve come far fast, so you’ll remember everything soon. Until then, you have reconnected with the three of us as you should.” She eyed Raven with pride. Genuine love. “You are much revered by my fellow seers and much loved by my parents for what you did. So much so that my mother named me after you.”
Rather than linger any longer and be hit by more questions, she nodded thanks to Raven once more, then vanished into the smoke.
Raven frowned. “How would her mother have known my name?”
“How do seers know anything half the time?” Tor asked. “Though if you touched Revna in the womb, you touched her mother. That in itself could have given her insight. A glimpse into the future.”
“Interesting.” Raven continued mulling things over. “So what was I up to back then? Before you and I forgot about each other? Because I was certainly busy.” She took another swig of whiskey and looked at him. “I mean, why would I ever resort to possessing someone else to be with you? I had to know it would devastate myself someday.”
“It all comes down to Mórrígan,” Tor replied, certain of it. “A way to eventually evade her, I imagine.”
“Why, though? Especially since it could have meant hurting all of you.” Raven shook her head. “I wish I knew what she was up to. Again, she could have defeated us all at the beginning. She had the means the minute my weakened soul ended up back in Ireland. She had access to all of you and my sisters, not to mention Destiny and Leviathan, thanks to me getting caught up in their Forge.”
She released a choppy sigh and wiped away another stray tear before she went on. “No wonder I cried when I came into contact with them again. They’re more my parents than my own parents. Because I was caught in their Forge, I was more born of them than my sisters even were.” It also explained other things. “That’s why I responded so strongly to Loki’s Dagger too. Because it was so connected to them. Part of them.”
