CHAPTER SIX-THE LIGHTS

Feeling her feet on solid ground again, Mory let out the breath she had been holding since Haldir put his hands on her body. It was quickly replaced by a rush of bitter cold air into her lungs. As it tore through her chest like a knife, it carried with it the clean smell of Haldir’s skin.

As the spark reignited inside her, she panted against his shoulder. Haldir’s soft lips grazed Mory’s forehead when he looked down into her face. His usually deep and raspy voice seasoned by years of cigarettes and cheaply made Realm whiskey settled differently on her ears now that she was locked up tight in his strong arms. There was a kindness to it that sounded strange coming from such a rugged looking tough guy.

“We’re here. You can open your eyes now. You don’t want to miss this. The Master was feeling quite generous with his lightshow tonight.” The heat from Haldir’s breathy voice against the cold air surrounding them was like stepping from a cold tile floor in the winter to a lovely hot shower. She was bathed in the warm steam of his mouth and she never wanted to step out again.

Afraid of where they may have ended up, Mory slowly opened her eyes to see the black mist of traveling still hanging in the air. As Haldir slowly pulled away from her, Mory reluctantly slid her hand down his iron clad chest. Even through his heavy coat, she could feel the outline of his firm muscles.

Haldir bent down to look in her eyes. “You alright? I’ve never done that with a human before. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure we’d be able to. There may just be some magic to you yet.”

Realizing where she was, Mory slowly looked up in the air and nodded. “Dear God, you were really telling the truth.”

While her breath hung in the air in perfect white clouds, Haldir said, “I always tell the truth, Morana. Even when I lie.”

As any words that could describe such a miracle escaped her, Mory put her hand over her mouth to hold back the sobs of witnessing something beyond beautiful. “Is this real? It’s just so perfect.”

Haldir inched to Mory’s back then slid his arms around her waist. Pulling her round ass back to meet his thighs, Haldir covered her arms with his big leather covered hands. Pressing his nose into her warm knit hat, Haldir rubbed his lips against the soft merino wool threads as he searched for the comforting smell of a home he only dreamed of. “Very much real. I told you I knew a short cut, didn’t I?”

The glowing emerald-green lights swirled around the bright white moon as they presented themselves to Mory against the black darkness above them. As the snow drifts that lined the wind-made valley Mory stood in shimmered in a haunting green light, she trembled under Haldir’s embrace as she took a ragged breath.

Haldir leaned into her ear sending a new shiver down her spine as his prickly beard skimmed the soft skin on her neck. “You’re shaking like a leaf. Are you cold or frightened?”

Through chattering teeth, Mory said, “Both, I think.”

Haldir turned Mory around in his arms and pulled her close to his chest as she slid her arms around his waist. “Don’t be scared. Not of me. There’s nowhere safer for you than my arms, I assure you.”

While her gaze darted back and forth between the bluest eyes she’d ever seen, Mory asked, “What are you, Haldir? Tell me.”

Shaking his head slowly, Haldir glanced down between them. “I don’t know any more Morana. I’m just a man who can’t die. There’s nothing really special about me at all.”

Realizing just how different the two of them were, Mory pinched her lips together as she tried to keep them from quivering. Her glassy eyes twinkled in the moonlight as a tear spilled over them.

Haldir wiped the tear away with the back of his hand. “I’ll bring you here every night if it means I get to hold you like this. But no more of this, though. I never could stand to see a woman cry.”

Melting into his arms, Mory pressed her cheek against Haldir’s chest. “Thank you for this. You have no idea what this means to me.”

Rubbing his hand up and down her back gently, Haldir could feel the hurt and fear emanating from deep inside her. “I know you said you don’t want my help, but I can’t just let you slip through my fingers. Just tell me what it is, and I’ll fix it.”

Sniffing back her tears, Mory swallowed down all the things she wanted to just scream out. There wasn’t any point in dragging another soul into her nightmare. “It’s nothing you can help me with.”

Haldir pushed Mory back from his chest and looked in her eyes. “Try me, Morana. Whatever it is, I promise you, I’ve seen worse and I’ve beaten worse.”

Hoping to change the course of the conversation, Mory huffed through her nose sending a plume of steam into the air as she twisted her lips to the side. “Tell me about them then. What have you seen?”

Haldir pulled her close again, he knew Mory’s heart was rocky and getting her to let him in would take some work. All he had was time, but the clock was ticking on Mory. Resting his cheek against the top of her head as he looked out across the frozen land, Haldir said, “I doubt you’d believe me if I told you.”

Wanting to hear more of his breathy, rough voice, Mory tried to get him to tell her more about his life. Haldir was like having her own fairy tale at her fingertips. “After what just happened? I doubt there’s anything you could say that would beat that.”

Laughing at the thought of it, Haldir moved his head back slightly to look at her. “That little trick was nothing. I can do that in my sleep.”

As Mory shivered while the icy wind blew against them, she bit her lip and looked at the lights in the sky again. “This,” Mory shook her head as she watched the firmament spread out above her, “I’ve been just about everywhere in this world. I’ve seen the pyramids and the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, but this, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe you all get to live underneath something like this.”

Looking back to Haldir, Mory glanced at his lips before she looked into his eyes. “However, I’m freezing my ass off. Get me the hell out of here please.”

Haldir spoke softly as he shook his head. Now that he had her body against his, he had no intention of ever being without it again. “I don’t want to take you back yet. I just got you here.”

Mory smiled as she tucked herself deeper into Haldir’s hold. “I don’t care where we go, as long as it’s warm. I seriously can’t feel my toes right now.”

Pressing his lips against Mory’s forehead, Haldir closed his eyes. “Hold on tight.”

Bracing against the unknown that swirled around them, Mory pinched her eyes shut until the whooshing sound in her ears faded away.

Shifting to her heels, Mory heard the wooden floor creak under her feet and knew wherever she was, it was real. Looking down, just to make sure before letting him go, Mory opened her eyes and saw the dark planks of wood. “Where are we now?”

Haldir stooped down until they were face to face. “My place. You want a drink?”

Mory snickered to herself as she looked around the living room. “Uh-huh, definitely.”

Haldir licked his lips as he turned away from Mory then pulled off his gloves and hat as he walked across the open room to the kitchen. The only furniture that decorated the whole bottom floor was a couch, a few stools at the kitchen counter and a very large bed in the other corner of the room.

Looking at how neatly it was made and the candle beside the bed, Mory grinned to herself and wondered if he’d been expecting her.

As Haldir took a bottle of wine from the counter and opened it, Mory sunk down onto the flannel lined couch while she took off her hat. Sitting it on the coffee table, Mory pulled her gloves off and put them on top. Watching Haldir move around the kitchen, Mory unzipped her jacket then pulled it off slowly and folded it over the side of the couch.

Haldir took off his coat and put it across the kitchen counter then took the glass of wine in his hand and his beer in the other. Walking to the couch, he met Mory’s eyes and smiled. “Sorry, I don’t have any wine glasses. It’s a bit too fancy for me.”

Mory grinned a tight-lipped smile that made her dimples pop. “Don’t worry about it. These hold more anyway, don’t they? Funny, you don’t strike me as a red wine kind of man though.”

Haldir rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down beside her and leaned over with his elbows on his knees. “No. No, I’m not. But I was hoping I could convince you to come over some day and thought I should have something other than beer for you.”

Swallowing the sip of wine she just took, Mory licked the taste off her lips. “Thank you.” Setting her glass on the counter, Mory started to unlace her boots. “I think my feet died. I can’t even feel them.”

Haldir reached over and grabbed Mory’s foot then brought it to his lap as she slid back against the arm of the couch. After he pulled the boot off, he placed it on the floor beside him then motioned for her other foot.

Watching Haldir take such care of her feet as he dropped the other boot then rubbed them in his warm hands, Mory huffed out a chuckle through her nose. He looked back to her face and squinted at her quickly. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not always this nice.” He’d spend all night rubbing her ice-cold feet if she wanted him to just to keep her there. “Is that better?”

Mory nodded and smiled. “Much better, thank you. Can I ask you something?”

Pulling a blanket from the back of the couch, Haldir draped it over her legs as he put them on his lap. “Of course.”

Leaning her head against the cushion, Mory studied Haldir’s face. “Did you always have visions? I mean, before you became whatever you are now.”

Haldir slowly rubbed his hand over her shin and shook his head. Whether unconscious or not, Haldir slowly inched up Mory’s leg. “No. I couldn’t do anything before. Why do you ask?”

While she chewed on the inside of her lip, she shook her head. “No reason really. I was just wondering. When…when you have them what do they look like? Can you see the whole scene laid out in front of your eyes or are they like colors that surround someone?”

Haldir sat up and slid closer as he hugged his arm around her legs. “I can’t really explain it. It’s like if you were watching a movie and put on a pair of glasses that were playing a different movie. You can see them individually if you just focus your eyes right. It’s like living in two different worlds at the same time. Honestly though, it’s quite a pain in the ass.”

“Hmm.” Mory traced the lines in her palm with her thumb as she thought. “What’d you see for me, Haldir?”

Haldir huffed through his nose as his face curled up into a disgusted sneer while he avoided her eyes. A knowing smile curled up on Mory’s lips as a tear made its way down her cheek. Picking up her glass again, she brought it to her lips. “It’s alright, Haldir. I already know how this ends. You don’t have to sugar coat things for me. I came to Norway to die.”

After sipping back a mouthful and swallowing it, she blew out through her mouth in relief, finally being able to say it out loud so someone, anyone, would hear her. “And now that you showed me those lights, I’m ready.”