Page 38 of Thorulf
“Yes.”
He thought, at first, she would leave it at that, but she surprised him and went on.
“It feels as familiar to me as where I grew up.” She looked around, her gaze nostalgic. “I’ve definitely been here before. Many times. I know these woods and mountains like the back of my hand.” She frowned and glanced at him. “But not the Sigdir Fortress. Not where you grew up. If anything, I feel...distanced from it. Why do you think that is?”
Interesting that she didn't mention anything about the Stronghold. The kingdom his father ruled. It was called the Keep earlier. Though Thorulf had built his lair overlooking the Fortress, he had spent ample time at the Stronghold growing up too. Not as much because his cousins weren't there but some. He would have certainly wanted to bring her there to meet his people, yet it obviously hadn't played a big role in his and Jade's time together.
He shook his head in response to why Jade might feel distanced from the Fortress. “I wish I knew.” Grateful they were on talking terms now, he took advantage. “Perhaps you weren’t distanced from the Fortress. Perhaps, as it’s been all along, it’s only a matter of time before you remember it again.”
He wanted to take her hand and pull her close. Cup her soft cheek and finally kiss her.
“Yet you sense I won’t remember,” she murmured, following his thoughts clearly enough about the Fortress without making mention of his desire because she undoubtedly felt that too. “You feel the distance between the Fortress and me too, don’t you?”
“I feel...something,” he conceded. “And not just because none of my kin remember you visiting.” He shook his head. “It’s more. Something stood in the way of you going there.”
He was about to say more when the already cool air chilled even more, and the spirit of his cousin Estrid manifested nearby.
“Sister,” Dagr said in greeting, making introductions.
Jade nodded hello in turn, taking interacting with a ghost in as much stride as she did everything else here. She even gave the numerous spirits drifting after Estrid a little wave hello. People who had died since Maya and Dagr were Forged in Fire, and they created Midgard’s Rift. A place for souls to go until the war was over and Helheim was open to the dead again. Where some of the souls who had just arrived looked to be farmers, most had clearly been battling when they passed.
“You’ll want to pick up the pace, Dagr.” Estrid looked to the godly storm in the distance. “The fighting is much closer than you think. Much—”
Suddenly, the storm shifted closer in the blink of an eye, and a hush fell over the forest where before it had been alive with the sounds of animals drawn to Maya.
“She’s coming,” Jade sneered. She unsheathed two relatively small daggers and eyed the sky with anticipation.
Thorulf pulled his handy axe out when he felt the purple dragon drawing closer too.
“Yes, it is she,” Loki said with equal relish, pulling free multiple blades as well. “It seems we will be fighting our way to your lair after all.”
“Looking forward to it,” Jade ground out.
Vicar eyed her blades dubiously. “Do you not want to fight with larger weapons, woman?”
“Trust me,” Jade winked at him, “this is one of the few times smaller really is better.”
Vicar chuckled and shrugged, clearly curious to see how well she used them. In the meantime, while equally curious, Thorulf again found himself on edge at the idea of her being in harm’s way. It was an unfamiliar sensation. Women in his life fought. His stepmother, aunts, even his grandmother knew how to fight, and he applauded it. He believed women should battle alongside their men if they wished. So he wasn’t sure what to make of his conflicting emotions.
“They’re normal,”Dagr assured telepathically.“All of us have felt it. Still do. But believe it or not, it gets easier the closer you become to them. The more you understand what they’re capable of.”
“Whatever happens,”Loki warned everyone before Thorulf could reply,“keep heading for Thorulf’s lair.”
“Why not stand and fight?”Vicar unsheathed his sword, grinning with anticipation when a slew of men melted out of the forest and raced in their direction.“We have Dagr and Maya’s power at our disposal, not to mention yours. So why not end Mórrígan now if she’s heading our way?”
“Because Thor does not wish it yet.”Loki downed the front line of enemy warriors possessed by Mórrígan with one godly thrust of his hand.“Jade and Thorulf need to get to his lair first. Find their truth.”
When an incoming dragonly roar shook the ground, Loki glanced at Maya and Dagr. “Go! Get them there!”
Not needing to be told twice, they shifted into dragons moments before a godly storm raged directly overhead and a deluge of warriors came at them from every direction. Thorulf raced into battle with the rest of them, staying as close to Jade as possible.
Something he soon realized was unnecessary.
It turned out Jade wasn’t just boasting when she said she could battle well, seen clearly when she used two small blades with astounding precision. He’d never seen anyone fight quite like she did. Remarkably agile, she used every part of her body as an effective weapon, evading warriors that rushed her only to nick them here and there in select areas. Locations that slowed them enough that once she was done with the one, she circled back and finished off the first.
Sometimes she kicked high and fast. Other times, she used her knees. While he got the sense she'd never ended someone's life before, she took it in stride, doing what she had to do. She'd committed to helping humanity as a whole, no matter what it took. This was one area she didn’t intend to let her emotions get the better of her, and he couldn't be more impressed. Yes, it probably helped knowing these souls had somewhere to go, but he suspected she would hold her ground regardless.
“It seems smallcanbe beneficial,” Vicar applauded, roaring with laughter. He felled two warriors at once then slammed his fist into another. Meanwhile, Thorulf whipped his axe at an opponent rushing him, then kicked him back into two more. Before they could gather themselves, he snapped one’s neck and ran his blade across the neck of another.