*Soleil*
When they are both gone, Siri goes to one of the small stones in the circle, putting her hands on it. "Stone in circle, shield to vǫlur. I loosen the ring the earth is protecting". She pushes the stone away, making a hole in the circle and coming back to me. "We have to hurry. The others are unprotected while we are gone". She takes out the little jar of ointment. "This is a flying ointment. There are a lot of versions out there, but only a true vǫlur can use it". She explains. "To meet with a Jötnar we need to let go of our inhibitions. Even I who have seen most are still bound by what I believe to be reality and superstition in our world. "The ointment is a potent mix of plants that makes you hallucinate, so you might feel a bit… drunk before we fly. Do you understand so far ?"
I nod, watching curiously as Siri opens the jar.
"We rub ourselves with
warning: by the end of the chapter a human will be killed and partially eaten*Luca*I need to rest for a bit. Exhausted I fall to my knees in front of a small brook, splashing the cool water in my face. After having a bit to drink, I sit down, staring downstream, feeling lost. I have been running for hours. How far have I gone ? Where am I to go ? It doesn't seem like a good idea to go home. They will probably just wait for me there.I hold my breath, listening if they are anywhere near. I remember some old movie where the bad guy had lost the police dogs by running through the water. So I decide to try. Right now I just need to get far away, then I can find out where to go later.My body is protesting when I get on my feet and jump into the water. Even with my legs tired from many kilometers of running, the memory of Martin's yellow eyes and the bloo
*Davina*Lefu had called me already this Saturday morning, asking me out for dinner. And now I am hurrying down the stairs to meet him. When I spot him I stop in my track, staring at him in surprise. As he stands there in jeans and a loose, button up shirt, his hair styled fashionably instead of slicked back like I am used to, he looks even more handsome. If it hadn't been for those hypnotic blue eyes I would hardly have recognised him.Luckily I had decided at the last minute to wear the blue dress I made for Soleil's birthday and we are matching nicely..We drive to a restaurant much closer to London. When I ask why we are driving so far, he shrugs. "I want to eat in peace. Here are less chances of meeting any of my friends or the clientele from the Grotto''.Even if it isn't one of the VIP places in London, It is still a much nicer
*Soleil*The howl of a wolf rips through the forest again. For a moment everything is silent as the grave, before yelling and noises come crashing in on me. Halfway panicked I try to remember what Tjalfe told me. The spell. Why did I say that I remembered the spell ? I can't remember it."Tjalfe I need you, are you here ?" I yell, my heart hammering like a jackhammer and I have a hard time breathing.There is no answer."You said you would protect us if we let you into the circle. Look what you've done. We trusted you". The tears start tumbling down my cheeks. I trusted you".My necklace starts glowing and a wind shoots through the trees, collecting to form a tornado outside the circle. When it dissaperate, Tjalfe steps out from the dust. "Sorry, I just had to find the opening".
*Soleil*"There are two kinds of hamram. The small ones, like the one you just saw, look like a normal wolf. They are much stronger and faster though, and besides being bloodthirsty they are basically like a normal wolf. Which means no human intellect, they can't predict our moves, but only react in the moment". Marta explains after we come inside. "The one we saw when we looked for them was a High one. They are faster than the small ones and much stronger. They are smart, almost human-like intelligence. Their big downfall is their aggressive nature, if we provoke them they lose control and attack blindly and we can use that"."Our technique of fighting the small ones is a little different. They rather flee than fight. We have to lure them out and keep their focus, until we can kill them". Gudrun ads. "This method is not usable against the high ones. It is too dangerous getting that close to them".&n
*Luca*I can no longer ignore the hard and cold surface beneath me, making it impossible to fall into a deeper sleep. Reluctantly I let go of the dream and open my eyes.Great ! Now I am laying her on a slab of rock in my fucking birthday suit. With a sight I turn to orientate myself and fly backwards when I realise that I am laying on a ledge. Carefully I lean forward, staring down into the abyss, there is at least 15 meter down. I try to remember how I ended up here, but I can hardly remember my own name right now. My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth and I look around for somewhere to find water. There is a grotto behind me, and to the right is an animal path that disappears between some bushes.I gik up, praying that there isn't a campground filled with girl scouts behind the bushes. My new enhanced hearing, which I truly love right now, tells me there are no hu
*Davina*Dinner at the fancy restaurant really is transboundary to me, but as long as I stay focussed on Lefu and our own table, I manage to abstract from everything else."Are you okay?" He asks. "You are paler than usual"."I am okay thanks". I mumble. As long as I don't drop anything or start coughing water all over the table."You better get used to it if you are to create clothes to the high and mighty ladies, like the ones here tonight". He makes a motion with his head.I gasp as I look around, recognising several very famous people, all wearing very expensive designer clothes. I bite my lip to relax myself.Lefu must have seen my growing panic, because he instantly turned the conversation to another subject and I let out a grateful sigh. I couldn't help wa
*Luca*"You are not the only one you know". Jonas voice makes me get up and look out through the bars in the big iron door."Martin said the same". I answer."You were never told how our father died". Jonas has brought a chair and sits down outside the little iron shed."I assumed he had something with the heart". I say, feeling uncertain."He was strong as a horse". Jonas huffs. "He was liquidated"."What do you mean by liquidated ?" I ask, feeling chills down my back.He sighs. "When he was young, long before he met mom, he was engaged to this woman and when he changed for the first time he was naive enough to tell her. She broke it off with him and left. So he went to her to try and talk about it". Jonas takes a beer break.
*Soleil*I sit on the bed for a long time. After having slept the fight against the hamram and the trip to the lake with the body just seems like one of my dreams about the monsters. If I get up and walk out the door, will it turn into reality then ? The School, Davina, hormones and boys, those are all real, but the things out there… I can't even find a word to describe it. If that is reality now, if I have to kill werewolves and dump their bodies, how long can I remain Soleil then ? How can I hang with Davina and talk about boys and parties, when a monster can emerge around every corner ? And what about my mother ? How can I go back and live with her, knowing that me being there brings her life in danger too ?Meeting Tjalfe has convinced me that this is what I want to do. But when I saw the young man lying dead on the ground I realised what the choice will truly mean. It was a coincidence that it ha
*Soleil* "Oh! I never thought we would get away from Scotland”. I kick off my shoes and throw the backpack on the floor. "It was getting cramped up there”. "We're getting ok at it actually”. Luca closes the door to the small apartment and slams the lock. "We handed out some serious ass kicking” I huff. "Yes, we could win every time if you did not try to decide it all”. "You can just accept that I'm always right”. He grins. "I do when you realize that it's not about being right, but about what works !" I star defiantly up at him, but surrender as he pulls me into him. "I'm just happy you came back”. He bends down and kisses me. "So am I". The butterflies flutter joyfully inside me, and I pull him down in a deeper kiss. I twist my fingers into his tousled mocha brown hair and indulge in the feel of his lips and exploratory tongue. “Well, what do you say ? English or history ?” He withdraws and deftly avoids my aggrieved gaze. "Seriously ? You want us to read our hom
*Narrator* “Magnificent !” The lord of the wind's eyes shone with obvious joy. “I could not have done thatbetter myself”. "You were entrusted to bestow on this man your strength, and now this !" The lady of the earth thrust her arm out against a settlement, engulfed in flames. "We were just letting out a little smoke". The lord of the fire grumbled. "We just happened to realise that If humans do not gather as a people, then they will never overcome the brood and not at all the queen”. “It might very well be right. But this is not the solution”. She sighed heavily. “They were meant to live happily, not to be subjected to more tyranny”. A small lake began to trickle up from the ground beneath them and manifested itself in a figure like the other three. "It's over”. The lady of the water said. “There is no hope anymore. Tonight they will gather, and your kinship will be wiped out”. "Oh, I can not get air". The lord of the wind sobbed with laughter. "Very funny !" Snarled the fir
*Tjalfe* The villagers have never seen Hrazgouls so close before. Only a few, fleeting glimpses have been had. They always come after the Bakorshas have finished emptying their prey of blood, to eat the remains. In the morning, when the residents venture out into the daylight, there are only pieces of clothing, shattered bones and stinking piles of entrails left in rust-red stains on the ground. When one of them has tried to escape over the mountains, the remaining ones do not even get to see the Bakorshaer’s servants before the death cry of the fugitive resounds across the valley. Now they come in between the houses. One being more abominable than the next. Giant beasts with luminous, yellow eyes, whose long gaps flashes with large serrated rows of teeth. Their upright bodies were covered with dense coarse fur, while the broad shoulders and long, bulging arms end up in a paw-like hand so large that it could effortlessly crush the skull of a man. In between them comes smaller cre
*Tjalfe* Although darkness reigns behind the houses, it is easy to find the victim. The child’s screams drive Saren forward, and the fire blazes furiously in his hand. He finds the child just as life leaves the body. Like a breastfeeding infant it lays the arms of a Bakorsha, whose teeth sit deeply buried in the child’s thighs. With an insane scream, Saren sends a long beam of fire towards the monster. The heat is so high that it instantly sets both the Bakorsha and the child corpse on fire. When the last rays leave Sarens hand, both fall on the ground, charred and annihilated. The embers reveal the next victim and her assailants. It is the child's mother who lays helplessly on the firewood block while one of the dark ones brutally mates her and rips her flesh to blood with its dirty nails. Three others are biting into her arms and neck, where they greedily empties her of blood. Saren raises his hands to obliterate the creeps and free the woman from her afflictions, but nothing h
*Tjalfe* Malicious laughter and agitated voices intrudes in the dark, first from the west, but gradually the sounds spread until they surround the whole village. Bringing promises of carnage and death. The people flee back out of their houses, and all search for the relative safety of the fire. Quickly they get their torches lit and turn front towards the enemy, who is still hiding in the shelter of the darkness. Only now do they become aware thatthat their medicine man stands among them without a torch. The fear of Bakorsha had for a moment made them forget the new danger that had manifested itself in their midst, but then the burning house begin to give in to the ravaging of the flames, and it seems to dawn on them what they had witnessed as they scouted out the windows. Those closest to the medicine man hurried awayfrom him. This is a mistake and part of me wants to warn them, but it is too late anyway, and a shadow flies past and grabs one of the men. His howl is drowned
*Tjalfe* I am watching from my spot inside the storm, watching as things unfold below me. The people look up at the storm, which suddenly hangs over their heads. Panic and confusion arises in the village. Everyone let go of what they have in their hands and run into the middle of the square to seek shelter around the bonfire. Humans are no longer one, they have been divided by fear, and everyone care only to keep himself and his offspring alive. Everyone pushes and hustles to get closest to the fireplace andfarthest from the edge of the circle, for now that the sun's rays are hidden behind the heavy slate-gray clouds the Bakorshas will arrive prematurely. In the middle of the village a large bonfire is burning, and torches have been laid nearby, so they can be quickly ignited. The people has learned that the Bakorshas are not enthusiastic about fire, and that it sometimes happen that the sharp-toothed monsters will abandon the attack and instead throw themselves at another vict
*Tjalfe* The valley is a beautiful, small oasis between the high mountains, which in its time had attracted the inhabitants. They had lived in peace and perfect harmony. The mountains had shielded them from the worst winds, so the crops were diverse and the people of the city had never experienced distress. The only entrance to the village is an opening to the west where the surrounding mountains remain broken by a narrow passage. The view over the pass makes it possible to detect travelers coming from distant parts of the continent in good time, and show them hospitality. No one knew of anything but tolerance and no one dreamed that travelers could come up with anything but peace. It ended when the dark ones came. From then on, the valley became a prison for the people. During the day they were trapped, and at night they were harvested like grapes on stalks. There was no way out off there, all passable roads were blocked by Hrazgouls, the servants. Many had tried to flee, but eac
*Lefu* A tear rolls down my cheek. "Goodbye, Katje". I whisper softly. "I swear your death will be avenged”. "Now you see what they are capable of”. Strano puts his hands in the pockets of his night-black Armani jacket. "It is only the beginning”. I hiss angrily at him. "How can you choose them over your own ?" "You still do not understand, do you ?" Strano rolls his eyes. “They would not be here if it were not for you. Remember that”. “You knew it all from the start, right ? That there were several dogs and that I knew about them. That's why you did not kill me right away when you came up here and picked me up. That’s the truth right ?" I can’t help but seek assurance that I am right. He gives a small sigh. “I saw an opportunity and I took it. When the girls sacrificed Elisabeth, I could not prove that they were involved. I bet you would throw in the dogs as bait if you got the chance, and that Lyndsey would bite”. "What about her ?" I nodded down toward the figure with the
*Luca* My gaze is fixed as I step forward towards Harry. The dark blonde ulfhedin might be the pack leader, but this is my prey, and I do not shy away from the warning snarl of the alpha. Harry must have come to the same conclusion, for he goes silent and withdraws. I stop in front of the charred statue. My nails slide down the rough surface. Although the texture feels like charred wood, the shell is massive. I withdraw my arm and fire. The charred crust cracks, and I have to strike through once more to penetrate into the goal. When the shell breaks, a rain of coagulated blood sprays over me. I stick my paw into the evil bitch, find what I am looking for, and pull hard. The heart is still pumping weakly as I hold it up in front of the statue. I growl triumphantly and squeezeit in my powerful fist. The heart stops beating, and the red flesh-filled tissue gives way and explodes in a cloud of dust. It is over. "What do we do now ?" Soleil's cousin stands in front of the grotesqu