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Day Six, After: Dread.
Kai enjoyed Eir’s wings indeed.
She was impressed with his inventiveness and her own sensitivity, down to the tips of each feather, the ends of each individual vane. They’d fallen asleep at last in exhausted contentment with one of her wings covering them both like a blanket, their bodies joined as always.
This dawn break, he tickled her awake by stroking her secondary flight feathers, the equivalent of the underside of her upper arm. He made her shriek with laughter to the point of breathlessness before he stopped tormenting her.
And then, he kissed her even more breathless and left her gasping as he stroked her body to completion with his hot, heavy, hard maleness from the inside out. Over, behind and all around.
But their morning lovemaking was cut abruptly short when loud pounding came from the barn door, followed by Ere’s raised voice.
“The ice storm came early! We must prepare!”
And so, Eir found herself on the third trip from the village to the hideaway cavern through the woods.
She and Ere had spent the entire day helping the old, small and weak evacuate their home. While Kai and Sorin made final preparations with the militia that stayed behind to defend the village.
They thought they had another day. There had been no signs of the impending blizzard during the day before.
All had been calm and even slightly warmer than usual. But during the night, enough snow fell to bury the main longhouse almost entirely. It had taken some doing just for the inhabitants to lever the door open. If not for Ere’s ingenuity, they might have been trapped inside for much longer.
“Stop scowling,” Ere said, riding his horse beside Eir, holding a small girl in front of him while she held a boy.
Though bundled in furs and wearing their thickest boots, the snow was too deep for the little ones to trudge through. A couple more rode on the hairy donkey’s back, giggling and chattering in good spirits.
For a people about to be invaded upon by a Frost Giant, they were all in all hopeful and optimistic. They truly believed that everything would be fine, now that their prophesized hero was here.
The children played gaily and bounced on their rides as if they were going on a grand adventure. No dark clouds of gloom hovered over the migrating villagers. They fully believed that they would be able to return to their home in a couple of days at the latest. This was simply a retreat, a place to hunker down during the impending storm.
It was amazing what hope could do for humans, Eir reflected. How believing in something could change one’s view of the world so fundamentally.
Did this apply to Immortals as well? Or were mortals the only ones who had the ability to change their stars just by virtue of believing they could?
If she believed that the Norns didn’t set everyone’s Fates after all, merely suggested the paths, could she change Destiny too?
“I know what you’re worried about—that the Frost Giant could attack any moment,” Ere said beside her, cutting into her musings.
“You’re calculating how fast you can race back to the village to fight alongside Kai when the jötunn comes. Our scouts will give warning. You will have plenty of time.”
“There was no warning last night,” she retorted, scowl still firmly in place. “We could all have been buried alive in an avalanche.”
“But we’re not,” Ere pointed out.
“Don’t dwell on what ifs and could haves. Focus on what we can do rightnow, in this moment. Every second not lived is an opportunity to live it as you intend to. Grasp every moment and make it yours.”
Her features finally eased from the concentrated frown, and she looked wonderingly at him.
“What made you so wise?”
A small lopsided smile shaped his lips.
“Lots and lots of mistakes,” he replied.
“For all I pride myself in being willy and cunning, I’m rather stupid when it comes to important things. Everything I’ve learned over the course of my existence has been acquired the hard way.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Here was a man who was like her in many ways. He was magical too. He had lived a very long life. Seen civilizations rise and fall.
