Tor would have been surprised by the wizard’s tenderness toward the egg had he not understood the Irishman was as connected to it as Revna. For it held a piece of him too. All of them.
“Your offspringisvery smart and powerful,” Magnus concurred. “But even he could only hide for so long. The growing process had to begin.”
“It did,”Raven said.“Unless we could find a way to slow itdown.”Her grateful gaze went from Cian, Vigdis, and Magnus back to their beloved egg.“And here lies the proof we did find a way.”
“Yes, it was most certainly a group effort, but nothing made it more possible than the love you and Tor had not just for each other but for your son.” Magnus shook his head. “That’s one thing Mórrígan never took into consideration. How fiercely protective dragons are of their offspring.”
“Nor how fierce mothers, in general, can be.” Never one to show too much emotion, Vigdis blinked back tears. “You saved our child, Raven, and you will never know how much that meant. How grateful we were.” She gestured at the egg. “So there was nothing we wouldn’t do to save yours in return.”
“But it wasn’t just you, was it?”There was no mistaking the emotion in Raven’s internal voice before she shifted back to her human half. She looked at Tor. “Your parents helped.” Her gaze went to Cian. “And yours.”
“Yes,” Vigdis confirmed. “And all will start remembering now that your final safeguard is unraveling.” She gestured at the cave. “As you felt coming in, a tremendous amount of magic was put into creating this nest. Not just that of every seer and fire demon that calls this mountain home, but King Sven and Queen Emily’s considerable power as well.” She gestured at Cian. “The wizard’s parents made sure he found his way back to Raven when her soul came searching. That nothing stopped them from reconnecting.”
“But it took so much more than that.” Tor shifted back as well. “Keeping this egg hidden and unhatched.” He shook his head, overwhelmed by the effort. The incredible planning. “It had to be a dragon in an egg rather than a human fetus.” More and more occurred to him. “And, of course, it could be hatched via an egg because Raven had inherited Leviathan’s Ancient bloodline.”
Ancients and Múspellsheimr dragons could still birth their offspring in dragon form if they wished but not Midgard dragons. They had been on this world too long, their inner beasts conforming to what was natural on this planet. To that end, their human halves had overtaken the primary gene for birthing.
Raven wiped away a tear and nodded, understanding. “I had so little time.” Her damp eyes went to Tor. “Wehad so little time.” She swallowed hard. “Because I figured out Mórrígan’s plan damn fast. SheknewI would go into heat shortly after making me solid.Knewwe wouldn’t be able to resist each other.”
“Though you fell into her trap, she didn’t get your child,” Vigdis praised. “Because you two were willing to do whatever it took to protect him.”
“And it took almost more than I was capable of.” Raven looked from the egg to Tor sadly. “This is why I felt I needed your forgiveness earlier. I had to give you both up. Cian and I had to make us forget everything. Most especially our son and each other. I had to....”
When she broke off, he pulled her into his arms, understanding her ache because he felt the same. From their egg being swiftly and magically extracted to everything that went into its survival after that. Where Vigdis and her seers could slow its growth down tremendously, it still needed other things. The fiery heat of its mother’s womb. The mountain springs helped some, but it took Magnus and his fire demons to keep the water boiling all these years.
“And poor Revna,” Raven murmured, finally understanding her epic role. Why Raven’s silver scales had brought Tor’s mind back to the moment she first possessed the seer. The moment he first felt attracted to her. “A dragon needs its mother close not over a thousand years in the future. That’s why she agreed to let me possess her. While it wasn’t necessary for the first few years or even all the time, it was enough for our baby to sense me. To know I hadn’t abandoned him. I didn’t need to remember he existed for him to sense me close.”
Baby dragons were exceptionally sensitive that way. More often than not, if a mother died in battle, her offspring would die soon after from a broken heart.
“I couldn’t chance Mórrígan locking onto anything in your mind, Tor,” Raven went on. “And somehow finding our son.” She shook her head. “So Cian kept our memories for safekeeping, then I made sure when I possessed Revna that it seemed like trances or dreams on my end, but hell....” She bit her lower lip and shook her head at Tor, fighting a heavy wave of emotions. “What a terrible thing for you and Revna. Yet another reason I need forgiveness from you both.”
Because she had been doing it right up until traveling back in time.
Unlike her sisters, one way or another, she had been in contact with Tor pretty much up until the last minute. A mere day or two, if that, where she still possessed Revna but had no recollection of it. Based on how she had sensed Revna’s thoughts at the beginning of all this, her grand plan had just about overlapped with the unraveling truth.
“Our daughter did it willingly and without complaint,” Magnus assured. “And she would do it again. You mean that much to her.” He nodded at the egg. “Hemeans that much to her.”
Tor felt the truth of it in his words. Although some had forgotten their initial part in protecting the egg, all, including those who had since cared for it, loved it as they did. And while it could be said it was all in repayment for what Raven had done before being born, he knew better. It was the influence his son already had over others. His sheer will to live. How his soul translated to the living. And that was a hell of a feat for an unborn dragon. It spoke much to what his life would be like.
“A life we need to help hatch.” He cupped Raven’s cheeks, letting her know with a look she had his forgiveness. Always would. “That’s why he came looking for us. The tattoo reconnected us. It was his gateway to us. Now he’s ready. But he needs our help.” He looked at Vigdis. “How do we do that? How do we help our son?”
“While I can’t be entirely sure, I would say by ending the enemy he’s hidden from his whole existence.” She shook her head. “Even though he understood why he’s been kept in a stasis of sorts, like any dragon, he wants to live. To be close to his kin. To begin his life.”
“Which means eliminating what threatened him in the first place,” Raven murmured. “But how do we do that? How do we defeat a goddess like Mórrígan?”
“How do we do that, indeed,” came a rumble before thunder rolled through the cave and Thor appeared.
“I have several ideas.” Loki appeared as well and grinned at the egg. “Though I’m leaning toward just letting things unravel as they were meant to.”
“You have been more clever than I gave you credit for in all this, my brother-in-arms,” Thor granted, clasping him on the shoulder. “From pretending you didn’t know who Cian was to claiming you had no knowledge of what happened to the sisters when their souls first came into existence.”
“Iama trickster god, among many things.” Loki winked at Thor. “You must have assumed I knew precisely how things had to go.Wouldgo.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Of course, some things were left to chance.” His grin widened. “But what fun would a Great War be without some unpredictable moments?”
“I’d really rather there be none of those at this point.” Raven considered Loki’s Dagger at Tor’s waist. “And now that I know I cut ties with Mórrígan, the odds of that improve by Forging.” She narrowed her eyes upward where the goddess was no doubt being lured by what Tor realized was a magical storm induced by Raven. A means to tempt the enemy to her gate. “First, though, that bitch needs to be taken down a notch.” Her gaze fell to Tor. A slow grin blossomed. “And I think I know just the way to do it.”
