Bifrost: Chapter XII

XII - Parting in Sorrow

Asgard

“I am worried. She–she is different. Much like…” In Asgard, Odin paced in front of Thor, his crowned head tilted to the floor by his feet. He looped back across the throne, not looking down at him as he exploited his finger tips, rubbing them in anxious need. The challenge Aztrit had shown in her face when he berated her was unacceptable. Since her transformation she had been useless—combative.
Thor looked up briefly, his flamed hair moving from his face. “She is Father. So I have seen. Her healing seems advanced now. When I asked her about her mission, she seemed careful of her words. And Loki–”
Odin looked at him with narrowed his eyes. “What of Loki?” He interrupted as he impatiently waited for his answer.
Knowing better than to speak ill of his brother in front of Odin, he lowered his head once more. “I only have my suspicions, father. How long has it been since he has convened with you? He has been more secretive as well, and I believe that perhaps, they are rebelling against you together.” His heart hurt for his sister, but if she had lost her way, she would only need to find it back to her family to be in their graces again.
As the wheels turned in Odin’s head, he held his crown, trying to clear the mass of voices beginning to bicker amongst themselves. The waters of the dark well would take what they were owed, the fates had warned him when he drank. “She would not betray me!” Odin shouted, the porcelain of the throne cracking as his voice broke the interior of the palace. “Eir, she would not betray me…” He felt his chest shake, the ancient images of his human healer turning slowly in front of him.
Odin had first seen her from the heavens, his ravens telling him of a woman with fortunate beauty, healing in a village far below the skies, surrounded by green plains and wild flowers. Each day they would tell him what she had done, where she would go. How she would sit next to the waters for hours, singing songs for the Gods to hear. As the ravens whispered of her full lips, her coiled hair, her bright eyes he had to see her for himself.
Swiftly he had descended, walking amongst the people, posing as one of their injured as they returned from war. Amongst them he saw poverty, tarps that could hardly be called homes, people struggling for food as they crowded around a single animal carcass. He hated what savages they could become, their short lives making it hard to care for their difficulties.
As he neared the last of the covered wooden huts, he began to grow frustrated, being misled by his all seeing eyes. He began to turn away, no signs of life in any of the shambles, just as she came from behind her own, salve covering her hands as she mixed it into the wooden bowl in her palms. “Do not scratch Coholk. You will only spread the illness faster.” He heard her warn in Pitak, undoubtedly to the man covered in hives sitting on the stool in front of her home. He recognized it as the disease spreading, killing the young and elderly.
Odin forgave his assumptions as she looked up to him, her golden brown eyes fluttering as her eyelashes touched her cheeks, reminding him of a fawn. Her thick mass of curls touched the curves of her hips as her body glistened with light sweat, beading on her brown skin. Her full breasts only covered in ripped tan cloth, the undersides protruding as she bent down to his Coholk’s side rubbing the infected areas.
“No!” Odin felt himself shout as she touched the infected man. As they both looked at him, he felt the air growing warm. “Aren’t you afraid that you will catch it, and die?” He asked her as he came closer to them both.
Eir looked at the blond warrior, his hair pulled behind his neck, his arm bleeding from his injury. She saw brilliance in his blue eyes, his air seeming regal, infatuated. She heard Coholk chuckle, taking her hint to continue rubbing his festering wounds with what the Gods had given her. “Eir is our blessing. She knows no sickness or injury. You must be an outsider.” As Odin continued looking only at her, Eir felt her face growing hot, his wandering eyes new to her as she felt herself stirring.
He looked to her as she lowered her head, continuing with her task. He waited until she was finished, dipping her hands into the bowl of water by her side as Coholk got up to leave, eyeing Odin before he walked away. “Come.” she suggested to him as she pointed to the empty stool.
Odin obeyed, coming closer as she watched him take off his shirt, his muscular chest rippling as he approached. He saw her eyes flicker away in embarrassment. With each shy gaze she gave, his need to pin her underneath him grew tenfold. He looked down to her kneeling by his side as she wet the cloth in her lap, wringing the water from it to cleanse his wound.
Eir held her tongue as his unwavering gaze made her uneasy, as if he had come for her, and not to have his wound treated. But Gods he was gorgeous, his thick hair down his back, his lips moist and pink, his body fit from battle. She was sure he had not seen him before, he was no warrior of theirs. She saw his blonde brows furrow at her nervous wringing, the cloth sufficiently dampened long ago. She couldn’t help it, she was far too afraid to touch him.
Young Odin smiled to himself. “Have you never touched a man, Eir?” He questioned in a whisper to her, seeing her bite her lip in abashed arousal. It was his aura, human women always found themselves struggling to control themselves when he decided his wants. Now, he wanted her; her wide hips led to her soft backside. He knew it would fill his hands and then some, giving him what he had been dreaming of.
She covered her fingers with the rag, her hands inching slowly to his wound. She found herself, not wanting to be flustered any longer by the stranger. “I have touched many men, and healed many wounds. Now it is you who is blessed to say that you have been touched by me.” She heard him chuckle as she applied pressure to his arm, cleansing the old blood, she was surprised that he didn’t flinch or shy away from the pain the deep wound was sure to cause.
Odin focused on her breasts as she worked, her light hands caring for him expertly. As she dropped the rag, taking her bare hands to the flesh of his arm, he felt his muscles reforming, his wound closing underneath her palms as she took them away, horrified. As he had expected, she was human. But she was a Sonu, a healer for the gods meant to care for them during their time away from the heavens, where they were the strongest.
Feeling her eyes widening in fear, Eir covered her mouth. “You are not one of us. Who are you?” As his smile deepened, his arm telling no tales of injury, she tried to move away, just as he grabbed her wrist, stopping her from turning in fear.
“Do not run from me, Sonu. I only wish to honour you, as your King.” He lifted her to her feet, her small body covered in his shadow as he moved her into her hut, letting her go as she fell onto the soft bedding on the ground.
She tried to catch her breath as she understood, his identity clearer as he slowly entered. “Hildolfr—Odin please.” She lowered her skirt, trying to cover her womanhood as he bent between her legs, splitting them for his eyes to see.
“Eir, my Sonu.” He kissed her neck, smelling the citrus of her body as he held her close. He had fallen in love with her from afar, and now she was here beneath him. “I want only to taste you, until you are ready to succumb to me.” Odin remembered what it felt like to push her skirt up for the first time, to see her messy and wet as she said his name, not understanding why she wanted him so fiercely.
He remembered each visit, each moment that they spent together, their relationship growing into more than infatuation. Her hands glided through his hair as she brushed it for him, singing to him of her adoration.
It had taken her long to open up to him, until she was comfortable enough to take him inside of her. But she had been worth the wait, worth the stiff treatment she gave his member. As he found her to be expecting, he had given her every offering, wanting her to live in wealth as he did. She had accepted none of it, insisting that he only better the lives of her people in his love for her. So he had. They knew no disease, no famine, no war.
Anything for his Eir.
One fatal night, she called to him, distress in every corner of her voice. He woke in Asgard, calling immediately for his son.
As Baldur appeared in his chamber, Odin quickly dressed. If Eir was distressed, he did not wish to travel alone.
Baldur's white hair shone in the soft candle light, his violet eyes bursting from his translucent skin as he listened to Odin’s orders to accompany him to the Sun Lands.
"Do not tell your mother." Frigg despised Baldur being sent to the Sun Lands. The Gods there were chaotic and often cruel.
They appeared in a blink of an eye, entering the tent as Eir laid on her back, an elder caring for her as she held their child. Their daughter.
Odin knelt by her side reaching out to touch her soft cheek, her sparse curled hair mirroring her mothers. His heart had nearly burst as his daughter poured more love into his heart than he thought he was capable of. “Aztrit.” he had called for the first time, testing it on his lips. He kissed Eir’s head, holding her close as he took in their beauty.
But it did not last.
That same night, he had only left for a moment to gather offerings for his only daughter leaving Baldur to protect his newborn sister in the Allfathers absence.
A mistake he regretted every second since.
Hel had come through, retaliating against Odin by striking at his heart. Slaughtering and setting all aflame, taking them for the army in the underworld, unwilling souls stolen in tragedy. He had been alerted by his Valkyrie too late, most of the village devastated by her harsh blows. Baldur had gone to protect his new sister, but had been felled by Hel and her dominion.
When he arrived, it was all unrecognisable. Each item, every home, each person charred and left in the rubble behind her. Not seeing Baldur, Odin sprinted to Eir’s tent, hoping somehow she had been spared, that a miracle would form itself out of the ashes.
He spotted her buried under the still burning wood, her lifeless body limp in his hands as he pulled her close to his chest. As her arm fell by her side, he let out a cry to the moon high in the sky, its lunar light cast on hopelessness. It was the only time his heart had ever been broken, shattered, decimated by cruelty. To lose his first son, his daughter, and his love on the same night was more than his soul could bear.
He shouted out Eir’s name, hoping the heavens would hear his grieving soul.
Aztrit’s crying separated him from his sobs, his tears falling into Eir’s hair as it blew gently in the wind, just as it had when she lived. He laid her down gently, moving the rubble as he saw Aztrit in her infancy still bundled, soot on her small face as tears poured down her brown cheeks.
All was not lost.
His pain soothed marginally as he saw his daughter living in his arms.
Returning to his present body, Odin whispered to Thor, “Leave me.” He moved down the steps at the foot of the throne, passing him. He looked to the spacious void as he exited, the fires of the torches crackling at the entrance as his mind cleared for the first time in months.
Odin continued down the path to the gardens by the ponds, kneeling as he saw the patches of flowers in orange, instead of the yellow and pink surrounding them.
He brought Eir here to rest so that she would always be close to him.
The Allfather wept in front of the small shrine, fruits and candles listening to his cries, he spoke to Eir, asking for her guidance. For he was lost, and he feared his daughter the same.

✴

Kirk palmed his axe handle as thunder continued overhead, only light rain accompanying it as he sat underneath it by himself outside of the city gates. He looked to the sky. Thunder heads circled, backlit by a gloomy moon. Blessed Night is in the eyes of Fate's Guide. He looked to the night sky, unsure of the message Derkot left him. Still, he felt the phrase to be important.
He stood, readying himself to apologise to Aztrit before the distance was put between them.
“You smell of my sister.” Kirk looked over his shoulder, seeing what he could only describe as a giant behind him. His hair deepened to burgundy from the rain, his firm grip wrapped around a large hammer that seemed to glow. His fur cape fluttered in the heavy wind. “Where is she?”
Kirk turned to him slowly, piecing together who was in front of him. Thunder, red hair, mystery hammer. “If you don't know, she must not want to see you.” He saw Thor come closer, looking as if he would leap at any moment. But Kirk had no fear in his heart. Thor was a worthy adversary, but each foe had their weaknesses.
Thor felt his nostrils flaring, “You insolent beast. Do you know of me? What I am capable of?” He felt his voice carry on the heavy wind, his golden crown giving his status clearly to another who was uncaring.
“Aye. I know of you. If she wanted to speak to you, she would come to you herself.” Kirk rolled his shoulders, recognizing the signs that Thor was readying for battle, his breaths becoming shallow as his muscles tensed.
“You will tell me where she is.” Thor commanded, thunder stuttering overhead.
Kirk tilted his head as he shook it, his own axe lifting in threat. The likelihood that he was here to harm her was too great. “I will not.” He lifted his axe above his head as lightning beamed down onto him, shielding himself from its harmful rays.
Thor looked on in confusion as his attack brought nothing upon Kirk’s body, seeming impervious to his gift. Was he truly human? It didn’t matter. If he thought he could battle him and live, it would be his own undoing.
As hammer and axe clashed in the distance, Aztrit sat up in bed, her breathing heavy as she felt the empty blankets beside her. “Kirk?” She called into the darkness, hearing only booming thunder as the room seemed to shake. “No. No!” She screamed in whispers as she got up, dressing quickly as she rushed out of the chamber door.
Calling to her, lightning and thunder intertwined as she stepped into the rain. She recognized the sounds of her brother’s anger. She felt her heart racing, knowing he could only be fighting Kirk as she heard him shout.
Recognizing that her feet could not take her fast enough, she flashed outside of the gates, breathless as she heard grunting, the two men fighting viciously. She saw Thor’s hammer collide with Kirk’s side, just as his axe pierced Thor’s flesh, his arm beginning to bleed as it swiped through the muscle.
As they lunged at each other again, she held out her hands as she put herself between them. “Stop it!” She shouted over the rain, catching the wet grass by their feet aflame to stop them from coming closer. She huffed as she felt herself dampening, looking between them soaked and their chest heaving as they only kept their eyes on each other.
Thor came closer, unafraid of the burn the flames would give him. “I’ll only command you once, move!” He shouted over her as Aztrit pushed him back by his chest, not allowing him to approach further.
Kirk came closer to her back speaking over her to him just the same. “Leave him Valkyrie, let him know what death may feel like.”
At Kirk’s threat, Aztrit saw Thor’s eyes widen with knowledge. “You! You are Hel’s bastard?!” When Loki had spoken of it, he thought it to be untrue, but he recognized the smell of death as it came to him. “You are protecting our enemies, Aztrit! I knew this to be true, but I had hoped I would be wrong!”
Aztrit shook her head as tears threatened to fall, her older brother’s shouting hurting her soul as he looked at her like the crumpled earth beneath his feet. “No! Kirk is not our enemy, he wants to help us.” She tried to convince Thor as his cheeks turned red.
Thor looked away from her, into Kirk's ghostly silver eyes. “Then kill him now so that he may be sent to Valhalla.”
Kirk saw the shock on Aztrit’s face from the corner of his eye as he gripped his axe once more, looking to her to see if she would obey.
“He doesn’t have to die to help us. He is like us, he can come to our home while he is living. Please, just speak to him and you will see.” She knew it was coming to an end. He would run off, alerting her father immediately of her deception.
Thor looked at her in disgust. “You have lied with him, haven’t you? He has convinced you to be his whore. That is why you protect him. It’s the human in you, but it does not recuse your foolish behaviour. Kill him now, or I will!”
As Aztrit didn’t move, shaking her head softly, her wet hair clinging to her shoulders, Thor knew she was too lost to be brought back to them. He charged his hammer again, only to feel his chest begin to burn, his body thrown back as her blue flames ate at his skin, their hunger unceasing.
Aztrit cried as she saw him struggling to put them out, knowing they would not stop unless commanded to. She raised her hand to her brother, not being able to listen to him shouting in pain any longer.
Thor sat up in the grass as the flames disappeared, the rain seeming unimportant as their eyes connected, her golden gaze filled with tears that mixed with the rain on her cheeks. He saw her touch her belly as Kirk held her shoulders to console her. “You…you are carrying his child?” He saw her sniffle as she nodded her head.
“Please. Don’t make me hurt you.” Aztrit whispered as her lip quivered, reminded of the way she used to cry to him as a child. Now, she was preparing to have children of her own. Didn’t she realise who she was joining herself to? Was she so willing to throw away the life they had given her?
Kirk let her go as she went to Thor, bending to his side as he continued to sit up. Feeling that he wouldn’t hurt her, he lowered his weapon seeing them try to feel what would happen between them now.
Aztrit continued her sobs as he looked at her, the hurt in his pained eyes evident as he looked away. She wrapped her arms around his red bearded neck, wanting to show that he still meant much to her. “I love you. Please.” She begged as she couldn’t imagine her brother turning his love for her to hate. "I can't do this without you."
Thor hesitated as she hugged him tighter, healing him as they embraced. He heard her cry harder as he touched her back with his hands, holding her. “I’m sorry. I cannot follow you where you have gone.” He said to her calmly as let her go, flashing away.
Kirk went to Aztrit as she kneeled by herself, the rain continuing to slide against her skin as she held her face in her hands. Her sacrifice would never go unappreciated, misunderstood. He only hoped their clash wouldn’t fall on Odin’s ears.
Aztrit heard the bedroom door close as Kirk came in behind her. She stood still as her sobs quieted, feeling his warm hands on her cold damp skin. She felt his thumbs massage her shoulders, his lips meeting her temple as he slipped her soaked straps from her body. She stayed trapped by her thoughts, only feeling the ghosts of his hands as he undressed her. She didn’t look over her shoulder as he called to her. “Aztrit?”
Feeling the floor sinking beneath her, she tried to keep her tears to herself, not wanting to have them be the last thing he saw before he left. Too much had cursed their last day together. “We were going to go together.” She said in rejection to his treatment.
Kirk heard the despair in her voice, knowing being apart was going to cause this reaction from her. “I am sorry that I treated you poorly this morning, it was not my intention.” He had thought about it as he had gotten his men ready for their departure, not being able to focus as he thought about leaving her upset with him.
He undressed himself as she stood naked in front of him, her hair holding the droplets that ran down her back. He sat on the bed pulling her close as she continued to wipe away her tears. “Soon, I will return. And then we can go back to Karth after our daughter is born.” He promised, wanting to wipe away the pain he and her brother had caused.
“How can you be certain? Thor will tell my father everything. I won’t be able to stop Allfather, he is far more powerful than the both of us. He won’t care about Nott, or what she means to us.” She fought him as he tried to wipe her tears.
At the mention of their daughter's divine name, Kirk tilted Aztrit’s chin, willing her to face him. “Look at me.” She moved her head as he spoke, looking into his face as he thumbed her jawline. “I will return to you, we will be together. The rest will have to wait.” he kissed her lip as she quivered, touching the curls in her hair.
She touched his face in return, allowing him to move her to the bed, laying her beneath him. She held his shoulders, needing him to rid her of the emptiness she felt growing in her chest. He kissed her neck as he parted her legs under the sheets, settling between. She sighed as his hands moved up her stomach, touching her lightly as they sought her breasts.
Kirk ached to comfort her, her damp body needing his heat as her nipples scraped his chest. She felt his cock begin to enter her, sinking past her lips as she sighed into his kiss. She clung to him as they began to make love slowly, only small noises of satisfaction escaping their lips as they placed heated kisses on each other's bodies.
She heard him whisper her name in her ear, his lips warming her lobe as he licked it slowly. He felt her shaking in his hands as he pressed her into the bed, she swelled around him as he played to her pleasure. He felt her finger tips dig into his back as she whispered for him to go deeper.
He lifted her hips to his, forcing her legs open further as he took her. He saw her close her eyes, holding her breath as he entered her, rewarding him with her essence as she gasped for him.
He leaned away from her, closing her legs in front of himself without unsheathing himself from her swollen lips. She opened her eyes, watching as he put her legs to the left side of his chest, holding them together by her ankles as he thrusted inside of her again. She panted as he filled her, her body seeming tighter as he bent her legs closer to her side.
Kirk groaned as he saw his member moving between her lips, sinking into her heat as she dribbled around him. He heard her mutter a prayer to him as the sight compelled him to piston, eager to fill her body with his seed. Her brown lips lapped at his exposed pale shaft underneath her engorged clit.
She nearly screeched as he took his thumb to her clit, rolling it underneath the pad of it. She felt her pussy thumping as her screams stimulated him, his cock aching inside of her. He kissed her calves as he held them, her pussy vibrating with her sounds as he brought her closer. “Valkyrie–” He gasped as she began to come, his cock caught between her throbbing walls as they clung close to him.
She touched her breasts, holding them as her finger tips clenched her peaks. “Kirk!” She felt her clit tightening against his thumb, thudding as he pressed it to her body. As she threw back her head, pulling at her nipples, he felt himself come with her, unable to express the haze she cast over him as she said his name.
Their pants adding to the quiet surrounding them as he slipped from her, he laid by her side. He felt her inch further into his chest, allowing him to wrap his arms around her. He stroked her drying hair, inhaling the roses he would miss. How he would part with her for what could be months—he wasn’t sure. But he knew that every chance he got, he would call her, hoping she would come.
Aztrit closed her cloak tighter as she watched the gates swing open, Kirk and Leflegd trading well wishes as he joined his men, mounting Rúnar. She saw Kirk look back into the city as Eric rode next to him in the darkness, their eyes catching as he turned back to the path in front of them, disappearing into the tree line.
“He will return Aztrit.” Angeana whispered to her in support as Lefelgd ordered the gates closed.
Aztrit only nodded silently, hoping it was true.

To be continued...