At some silent signal, the seers behind Hildr started to chant just as the smoke from the torches seemed to thicken. Maude blinked and she was watching the same scene unfold in front of her only Herrick wasn't kneeling in the grass any longer. Instead, a baby was being placed on the white sand while an animal bled to death behind the Grand Soothsayer. She blinked again and the scene returned to normal.
It reminded her of what Bryn had told her about their mother's journal entry she had read. Her sister had shown her the entry from Sylvi after retrieving it from her room in Logi, wanting Maude to be able to read the entry about her fate telling. Now, it seemed that moment in time was playing in Maude's mind.
Shaking her head, Maude placed her hand over her fatemark at the same time that Herrick did. Their actions mirrored each other, their unease spreading between them as if they had each seen the same beach and ritual that took place on it. That bond she refused to name that stretched between her and Herrick seemed to thrum to life the longer the seers chanted. Soon Hildr joined in, her speech unrecognizable and guttural as Maude's head began to swim.
Whatever Hildr was saying or doing caused a bolt of dread to shoot through Maude, and she could see that Herrick felt the same way. More than just the removal of the iron band would happen tonight; more than just their next steps would be revealed.
Herrick stiffened at the familiar scene unfolding in front of him as his fingers pressed into thevegvisirmark on his chest. The skin under the black tattoo tingled under his touch, the ink flaring silver and gold in such a quick burst he wasn't sure if he had made it up.
It won't matter, Prince, the voice in his mind whispered.I am already inside you. You are changed now.You have already lost.
He shook his head once, banishing the voice. This would be over soon. He would be free soon.
Behind Hildr, one of the seers broke off from their semi-circle where they chanted and returned quickly, guiding something behind them that was attached by a rough rope. A round of sharp inhales behind him came before the creature stepped into his line of sight. With a steady prowl, a large wolf with fur as black as night stepped into the clearing with little coercion by the seer guiding it.
Round yellow and gold eyes landed on Herrick causing him to hold his breath. With a stare more penetrating than a wolf should have, the animal walked up to him until their noses almost touched. After a few sniffs, the wolf seemed to nod before stepping back and hopping onto the altar behind Hildr. Herrick could only widen his eyes.
Dahlia took her place behind him. Her presence should have been comforting but apprehension filled him, swirling and heavy in his gut. Just as he was about to speak up— to say what, he didn't know— Hildr stepped around to the back of the altar where the wolf now lay calmly on. The animal had not taken its gaze off of Herrick for longer than a glance, even as the Grand Soothsayer removed an old silver knife from her billowing sleeve.
The flash of the moon on the blade caused lightning to run down Herrick's spine. Two figures now stood before him, their backs to him, as they lowered an infant to the sands in front of Hildr.
He blinked and the scene returned to normal. Hildr stood before the altar with the black wolf that still held his stare. There was sentience in its gaze, and understanding of its surroundings. Something that should have been impossible, but as Hildr's chants grew louder and her seers responded in kind, Herrick wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
Another one of the seers began to trek around the clearing they all stood in, a bundle of herbs in their hand smoking on the end that reminded him of something familiar. The longer they circled, the hazier his mind became.
They're drugging you so the restraints on your mortal mind will fall away, a voice whispered. It was lighter than the sentience that inhabited his mind lately, its words flaring brightly in his mind like the fires that burned around the clearing.
Why was it being helpful all of a sudden?
Herrick, son of Tyr, the voice whispered again.Heir of War and Justice.
This time, he realized it was not the same voice that had been living in the corners of his mind; it was something else. When it spoke again, yellow and gold irises flared in front of him. The wolf?
Pay attention to what will be shown to you, the wolf whispered in his mind.You will know what to do when the time is right.
Able to clear the drug-induced haze from his waking mind for a brief second, Herrick saw the moment Hildr drew the silver knife across the willing black wolf's throat before he fell back into the heavy fog overwhelming his mind. At the same time, Dahlia placed her hands on the iron band and began chanting in Elven, her musical voice low and haunting. The Grand Soothsayer dipped her fingers into the pooling blood of the dying wolf before walking to stand in front of him.
"Allfather, we call on you now to free this man from Hela's shadows," Hildr's clear voice rang out over the silent clearing. The seers had stopped chanting and it seemed as if the world was holding its breath. "Allfather, hear our pleas. If it is in your plan, free Herrick, son of Alva and Njal, from his shackles."
Before Hildr reached forward with her bloodied fingers, she caught his eye. With one subtle shake of her head, she told him that whatever would happen next was not to be shared. He nodded once before the Grand Soothsayer leaned toward him and drew three fingers down the left side of his face. Herrick did not register the motion, however, because as soon as the blood touched his skin, a fire broke out in his veins, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
Darkness and heat swallowed him, transporting him to another time where the truth of his existence was revealed.
39
Maude would have rushed forward to knock Hildr on her ass if her father hadn't restrained her.
As soon as Herrick's scream ruptured the silence of the clearing, she had moved on instinct. Flames flickered in her periphery, her skin growing hotter the longer he screamed. The sound was unbearable— she would rather be deaf than have to listen to him scream. Only in her nightmares had she heard Herrick shout like this— raw and broken. Arms like iron wrapped around her stomach, the thick corded muscle unbreakable under her thrashing.
"He's going to be okay," Aeric whispered in her ear, his melodic voice calling to some hidden nature in her very being that begged her irrational mind to listen to him. She didn't care; they were hurting him. "You need to calm yourself,måne. Interrupting them now will only prolong the pain."
Maude let out a frustrated cry as she fought against her father's hold on her. Golden flames licked up her arms, engulfing them both. A small grunt of pain from him turned her fire to ash— she had burnt him in her panicked rage when he had not let go. Instant remorse doused her flames.
At her side, Hakon was fighting against Gunnar and Liv to get to his brother as well. When he had shown up for the ritual, his eyes had been clearer than they had been in weeks. Traces of agony still lingered there, but the Heir of Rivers' focus was on the Elven healer the moment he arrived. He'd nodded at her in greeting, but Dahlia had only looked him up and down once before turning away, forcing a raw chuckle out of Hakon, to everyone's surprise.
"Look. Look at him," Aeric continued to whisper. "He's already recovering."
Maude froze. Hildr had placed her hands on the iron band, interlocking them with Dahlia's, and joined in on the chanting that would remove the iron from Herrick's throat as his back bowed backward. His ragged gasps tore new holes into her, each breath of broken relief from him urged her to crawl to him.
