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  Alucard was shorter than Edon and his body wasn’t too broad for me to get my arms around. He gazed into my eyes with his gold gems that always pierced my soul. I knew I had to go forth with the kiss. My lips caressed his, and I felt his lean arms around me; embracing with a passion different from Edon’s. They were dissed-similar in every viable way, imagined. Although it still wasn’t there. No spark.

  My heart wavered as I realized they were not the one I'd call my companion. It ached inside me because I witnessed and felt in both their love grow even stronger for me. I pulled away from Alucard. The smile that appeared on my face was a fake one.

  “I never knew how kissing felt. Thank you!” I walked over to Edon and hugged him tight. “Thank you for making my first kiss so wonderful.” I pecked him on the cheek. “I’m sorry to you both, but I can’t choose right now.” Tears dripped down my face.

  Edon squeezed me tighter in his muscular arms. “It’s ok.” I could feel his sadness seep into me.

  “I have to go. It’s getting late,” I said.

  “Did you want us to walk you home?” Alucard offered as a gentlemen.

  “No thank you. I’ll be ok.” I gave Alucard a hug as well and made my way through the forest.

  The sun was setting, and the darkness shrouded the sky. The full moon rose to meet the sun, aligning halfway like lovers who’d never be in each other’s gaze for too long. My heart wept with the sun and moon during my long stroll in the cold darkness of the forest. The mountain offered a silence more tranquil when emptying my thoughts in the loneliness. It was a good hour to gain clarity on my decisions from today. It was a gift to have these moments to myself or, so I thought.

  The cold winds of the mountain rushed over the horizon, carrying the screams of the forest that echoed around me. The sound plagued me with a stroke of fear that sent a message of shock under my skin.

  In the distance, the gray wolf appeared ahead of me, his eyes glowing in the night. Hurry!

  I gasped at the sound and ran in the direction where the trees became louder and louder. The sun had nearly completed setting over the tall mountain and my eyes struggled to adjust to the night. The trees continued to moan, hurry…. hurry…hurry! They echoed frantically in my sensitive ears. I panicked and quickened my pace. My feet struggled through the thick patches of snow and my legs ached from running. My lungs fought with the air to keep going. The cold burned my throat as the temperature dropped to a deathly freeze. The gray wolf followed close; panting as it ran with me to the direction of a single voice. It knew what I knew. I heard the child in the distance, screaming for dear life. “Help,” Her frightened voice resonated in the cold winds, blowing against my face, motivating me to run quicker.

  In the distance, there was a small lake covered in a thick sheet of ice. I stopped at the edge just before stepping on the sleek surface and my eyes hunted for the voice of the child I listened from afar. The voice gulped another help across the lake, and I saw a young girl had fallen through a weak area in the ice and was struggling to stay afloat. If she slipped under, her fate was sealed to the lake. She cried out again, and I no longer hesitated.

  I raced across the ice and skated my way towards her. My feet had little control on the sleek surface as I rushed using my hands to guide me across until I was able to reach her. I grabbed onto her hand and lifted her from the water.

  In that moment, fear struck me as I had no grip. It was too slippery, and I didn’t have my knife to anchor myself from falling over. So, as I pulled the girl towards me, I slipped into the freezing water with her.

  My body splashed into the icy depths. The cold seeped into my muscles and my lungs shortened to where I was gasping for air. My skinned burned and went into shock. With every ounce of my energy before the inevitable, I grabbed the child and threw her upward with the burst of sheer will until she got back onto the surface and back to safety. As for me, my energy was completely depleted.

  Slowly, my body had succumbed to the freezing cold. The muscle that kept me going had become stiff. My lungs become constricted to a point where I no longer breathed in the air to stay alive. Everything gave away, and I drifted under the ice. I no longer controlled my life as my body floated further from the hole along with my hope. I listened to the child banging on the clear surface above me. Although, in that moment it had become silent. The water gave me ease in the cold dark abyss.

  The fight was not there anymore. In that moment, I thought of my brothers, Thor and Loki, and then my sweet mother and her gaze that filled me with all the warmth I’ve ever needed. Poor Edon and Alucard, I should have asked them to walk me home. I remained in my thoughts, thinking of all the love I’ve experienced and how grateful I was for living. I did the best I could with my life as my memories flashed in my mind. This can’t be it. I wish I'd experience more than just this.

  In that moment, my heart sealed with the icy water as I imagined before my eyes, a figure floating towards me like a shadowy mist, drifting closer and closer. Its thin black arms became more solid and its face was like a ghost with no distinct form as it reached out ready to kiss me. Then I realized it was death I saw, granting me the mercy of death’s final kiss.

  Just as I thought my end had come, my brother slammed on the ice with his large hammer. The force of the break was so powerful from his godly strength it only plunged a hole and didn’t crack the rest of the surface on the lake. He reached in and grabbed my arm. Then lifted me away from my would-be watery grave.

  The breeze from the mountain wind chilled me to the bone while Thor held me tight in his arms. My limbs were already numb, and the cold locked my joints in place.

  “Alphard!” Thor tried to get me to focus again on him.

  My vision faded as the exhaustion set-in. ‘Stay awake’ I willed my mind as the numbness was so tempting to let myself go into the darkness. I knew if I fell asleep I would never awake again.

  Thor carried me back to safety on solid ground. Loki arrived and transformed into a polar bear, wrapping around me with his warm fur. The body heat from his form was comforting, but the chills still overwhelmed me. Thor created a fire, and they laid me close to the heat of the flames. My teeth chattered so hard, I barely spoke.

  “What happened,” Thor asked with fear in his eyes.

  “The girl?” My voice quivered. “The girl fell through the ice. Is she ok?”

  Thor looked at me as if I was delusional. “There was no girl.” Loki glanced at me in his bear form. “You were alone when we found you.”

  They confused me at that moment. “I swear a child fell through the ice. The forest guided me to her.”

  “The wolf guided us here, and the forest was acting strange so we both were aware something was wrong,” Thor responded as he gazed at me in worry. “Sister—we found only you. And thank the ninth heavens we did.”

  What just happened, I thought. I had never been this close to death before, but who was that girl? Was she in trouble? Where did she go? I know it was all real.

  Our mother arrived in the darkness. “Alphard.” Frigga gasped in worry. “What happened?”

  We were in complete silence, unsure of what was to be our answer. Thor looked at Frigga. “Mother! I believe she is not safe here anymore.” Fear struck our mother's eyes after my brother spoke.

  I glanced at them both in confusion. What were they not telling me? They have kept a secret from me. Why am I worried?

  The full moon rose high in the sky that night. The blanket of stars that lit the mountains would be the last I ever see as I listened to the gray wolf howl deeply into the night.

  CHAPTER IV

  Farewell My Home

  MY LAST MEMORY OF THE ONLY HOME I’ve ever known was the beautiful sunrise over the mountain horizon. Light shimmered off the snow like diamonds. The wind was still, and the silence of the forest gave me cause to worry. There was the sound of clanging in the shop as Thor hammered an iron plate to get a day's work done.

  The heat of the blazing fire warmed
the hut and the smell of cinder seeped in through the cracks of the wall like any normal morning. Loki was splitting wood in my place while I gazed out the window. I was still healing after last night's incident, so he took over most of my chores under Frigga’s orders.

  My muscles ached from the bitter cold right down to the bone. It was tough to move since I still had trouble bending the muscles in my hands, knees and feet. The chills in my body remained, forcing me to have on a thick wool blanket all morning.

  Frigga stayed inside in the dim, heated, room and sat next to the fire, shuffling the wood so it burned better. However, I got the impression something was off. She had been acting odd since the lake. Her eyes dozed off at the fire as if she was dreaming into the flames. I could tell she was in deep thought over what happened the night before. Something was definitely off between my brothers and Frigga. They forbade me from entering the woods today and I wasn’t allowed to meet with Alucard and Edon. It was unusual for them to be this concerned since it was only natural for accidents to happen. We’ve all been injured many times, living here in the mountains. What was different about today?

  I contemplated, sitting by the window, longing for a chance to stroll in the forest once again; to practice my bow skills with Alucard and run through the snowy hills with Edon. To play with the snow Fairies in the crystal peaks, north of the mountain. They would have escorted me there by now.

  After my encounter with them yesterday, it gave me a haunting sensation of heartache. The sensation was still there from their lips. Then I remembered that strange sense of ease from my near-death experience. The image was still clear in my mind when I met the mysterious apparition in the depths of the lake. The cold darkness of that fateful moment made me realize I needed to be more honest with my heart.

  Suddenly, in the distance, the gray wolf appeared out of the clearing of the forest. Its orange iridescent eyes glanced into mine with no need to search for me. It knew exactly where I was, by the window. A faint voice invaded my mind. I listened close to its words. She’s coming!

  “She’s coming,” I said faintly, yet my voice was loud enough for Frigga to hear.

  Her face twisted in fear, like she understood what it meant. Frigga staggered up in anxiousness as if she suspected there was something out of the ordinary in the woods.

  “Loki! Thor,” she called out to my brothers nervously, for them to stop what they were doing. “On your guard,” she ordered.

  Thor at once stopped hammering and stepped out of the shop drenched in sweat, black dust on his face and arms. Loki dropped the axe in the snow and scurried to stand next to him. Both had protective stances while searching the area for changes.

  In the distance, I saw a dark figure appear out of the shadow of the forest. The person stepped into the light and approached our area. As the figure drew closer to where it was easier to see, I realized it was a dark-haired woman coming towards the hut. Eyes deep gray as the steel my brother hammered. Merely glancing at them too long gave me chills as she advanced closer and closer with strength in each step, crushing the snow. The body she had was curved and lean like that of a warrior. Her stance shouted defiance and expressed the fierce focus of a predator. She reminded me of Edon, the way she carried herself with the confidence that announces a large ego and not being bothered by the freezing cold. She was barely clothed only wearing tight black leather slacks and a thick leather chest guard with red wings embroidered into the surface as an emblem. It exposed her sculpted arms to the cold like she felt nothing. The sound of her boots trod heavily, kicking the snow with every step.

  My mother approached her cautiously. Why did Frigga and my brothers’ have such fear in their eyes towards this stranger? They acted as if they knew this mysterious woman even though I didn’t recognize her. Her furiously dark eyes glanced straight at me and whispered into my mother’s ear a sentence, but I could not hear the words that exited her lips.

  “Just give me a moment with her.” My mother told the woman, bowing her head in obedience before walking back to the hut.

  She came inside and the sadness in her eyes said more than words. A spark of panic triggered my muscles to spasm, and the anxiety swirled in my chest. “What’s going on?” I gazed at her, confused.

  Frigga paused for a moment not knowing how to answer the obvious. The woman outside would take me away. “It’s about your mother.”

  “My Mother?” The word tangled in my mind. Who was the woman waiting outside? She continued to stare at me with intense eyes and shrugging her shoulders with impatience.

  “She wants you home now.” Frigga knelt down in front of me. “That woman outside will take you back to her. To your real home.”

  “My real home?” My tone became enraged. “Here is my home.”

  “I know my sweet child.” Her face frowned, and her eyes glazed over. “This will always be your home.”

  “I don’t understand.” I shook my head from side to side like a petulant child. “What’s going on? Why does my mother want me now after abandoning me for all these years?”

  “My love, she didn’t abandon you.” Frigga took my hand and kissed the palm to comfort me. “It was unsafe for you to be raised in your true home,” Frigga explained calmly. “She trusted you in my care. And she gave me the responsibility to watch over you; to keep you safe from her family. Your family.” She paused for a moment to collect her voice. “Last night was not by chance. The very family that your mother was trying to protect you from has found you and you are no longer safe in my care. Which is why that woman there will take you back to her where she can protect you much better than I can from now on.”

  Tears fell from my eyes. I wanted to be strong for Frigga and do as she asked by going with the strange woman, but I couldn’t. A burst of energy circulated inside me and I rushed to the back of the hut, and out the back window. I fell hard into the snow. The cold woke up my muscles, and the ice stuck to my face. My body was clumsy, getting up to run. I didn’t have on the proper attire to block the winter breeze from chilling my frail skin. It hurt and pricked me like needles.

  “ALPHARD,” Frigga yelled as I ran fast into the forest. It was cold, yet I didn’t care. I wanted to get away. My intention was to see my friends one last time before that woman took me anywhere. I sensed that she would chase after me and hunt me down. Something aligned with my intuition giving me the notion she was like a wolf, but the energy in her aura was so much stronger than what I’ve felt before, knowing Edon’s strength.

  She had speed as the sound of her boots hit the snow not too far behind. My heart raced against my chest and all I could think about was Edon while running.

  “EDON,” My voice echoed in terror across the forest.

  In that moment, something large scurried ahead; growling and rushed in the snow. An enormous wolf ran passed me and leaped at the woman chasing after me. I listened to them struggle as they attacked each other, snarling. As they fought, I heard Edon’s thoughts loud and clear, screaming for me to keep running.

  In the corner of my eye, I saw Alucard leap through the tree branches with his sword to aid in the fight. They both yelled for me to keep running. Don’t stop! My legs didn’t fail. I managed to keep running, knowing my friends were trying to help me.

  Just as I approached a steep hill, something came from behind and within a swift second, it knocked me down the hill. I tumbled in the snow, rolling wildly, down and down, until I hit a tree. My vision spun out of control until my head hit the snow. The scenery of the forest faded with my vision going black. I had passed out in an unconscious sleep.

  In my dreams, Frigga’s face appeared before me in sorrow. My brothers waved in the distance where our mother joined them into the darkness that engulfed the light. I wanted to scream out to them to wait for me, but my throat tightened as if it was being held back by unknown forces. Edon appeared out of the darkness. His appearance differed from usual, his eyes fixed on me with a mad-man’s glare. His face appeared more mature and the gen
tleness I once knew was no longer in my presence. He had deep scars across his body and face. The rage in his eyes soon enough became a vicious growl.

  All of a sudden, in the darkness of my nightmare, a lady’s voice spoke out in my dreams. The tone of her voice carried a warmth that woke me from my slumber. My eyes peeked opened to a bright light. It was strange, my skin was warm, and I smelled the salt from the ocean.

  The sun was brighter than usual as my eyes readjusted to the brightness of the room. The bed was soft and comfortable, which differed from what I was used to. I was disoriented, and my vision adjusted to a better focus as I analyzed the surroundings.

  I noticed a woman sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at me. Her dark hair as long and wavy as mine. Her eyes deep hazel with hints of gold just like mine. Suddenly a pleasant aroma filled the surrounding air. She smelled of honey and chamomile. It soothed my senses and gave me a sense of ease in the luxurious bed. She wore jeweled necklaces that glimmered in the sunlight from the window and wore silver bangles on her wrist. I glanced at her hands folded over her knee and sat cross-legged in a short black dress that revealed most of her chest and back. Her back straight and her shoulders back in a proper posture and acted refined. Her skin had a beautiful glow different from the women I’ve seen in the villages from home. That’s when I concluded that this lady was not of the cold north.

  It took a few moments to realize I was no longer in the north region when I heard the ocean and saw how clear the sky was, glancing at the balcony window. I struggled to sit up even though I was sluggish and weak. As I moved, a sharp pain rushed in my head and back.

  “Please don’t move so sudden.” Her tender concerned voice didn’t stop me from trying to sit up. She came close to me and enfolded her slender arm around my back and pulled me towards her; gently aiding me into a sitting position. “You hit your head hard and your back is bruised from hitting the tree.”