King Laurin is irritated by the Brook Horse arrogant behavior. As soon as he asks a question, the horse replies with a smart-ass comeback, but enough is enough. All he wants is to make the time pass quicker. His own horse at home can't speak so his head is now full of questions. "Stop bothering me,” brays the stallion grumpily.
King Laurin sighs. "If I don't ask questions, I won't get answers either."
"Your questions are not relevant. I am the Brook Horse and not a peasant’s horse or a slave to simpletons and demigods."
"Just one more question ..."
"No!"
"Come on, just one last question. It's the least you can do." "I don't owe you anything," The Brook Horse snorts.
Laurin chuckles. "Well, considering how you smell – I have to inhale that rank odor while I'm sitting on your back, have you thought about that?"
The Black stallion rearing violently in protest. Laurin loses his balance from the sudden movement and falls
The sun is burning its way down, coloring the sky in vibrant shades of pink and orange. They've been walking all day in the soaring heat. They have run out of water and food and they have to replenish their supplies.Cain walks a bit in front of the others, with the Siberian Jay on his shoulder. The little bird chirps loudly, as if to say something. Cain gets annoyed by the continuous sound and shoos away the bird that flies and sits on Brage's shoulder instead. She jumps back and forth across his shoulder and her tiny head bobs up and down as she chirps. Eventually, the Siberian Jay uses her beak to pull hard on a lock in Brage's hair."Ow! What are you doing?" Siberia takes off into the air, orbits them and eventually lands on Indra's outstretched arm. "It seems like she wants to tell us something." Indra caresses with her finger over the bird's chest and Siberia calms down. "What do you want to show us?"She raises her hand and the little bird leaves her arm.
Indra wakes up to someone gently shaking her. Tired, she opens her heavy eyes and stares into Julien’s. "Sigh ... Leave me alone, Dad." She turns around, slides her hands under her cheek and falls back asleep. Julien shakes her again. "Mm ... What do you want from me? Get out of here," she sneers."Indra, you have to wake up. You and your friends are not safe here."She slaps his hand away, sits up and glare at her father."How did you find us?""I've been following you from a distance this the whole time."Indra frowns. "But why?"Julien looks at her daughter calmly. "Because I'm not as evil as you think. Everything I've done that's caused you harm, I've done for you, Indra."She sneers. "Sure," she says, rolling her eyes. She stands up and runs her fingers through her short unruly curls. "How did you get past King Ulo, the Fairy Queen and the Mistress of the Forest?" she then asks, openly curiously."I've been walking t
It hurts. Indra screams inside her head. Its agony to breathe; her stomach turns and she vomits water out of her lungs that burns like they're on fire.Someone pats her hard in the back and more water comes up. Her chest starts to rise and fall. It is refreshing to fill the body with oxygen and with that present time appears in waves around her. She hears the sound of the babbling water and upset voices going from hushed mumbling to loud clear words.The first thing she records when she opens her eyes is Vimar's anguished screams. She is helped to sit up and sees Vimar sitting with Brage in his arms. He cries and prays to higher powers to return his beloved, rocking back and forth as he’s showering him with kisses over his pale face. Vimar's shoulders are slumped and shaking violently as tears run down his cheeks in unbroken lines. Cain and Julien are behind Indra, but she wonders who is who's kneeling down in front of Vimar and Brage. Indra looks up at Cain, who
Indra squirms in an attempt to get comfortable. The long and tiresome ride has left its mark on her muscles. She tries to scootch forward a few centimeters towards Viridi's neck, mostly to avoid feeling what's poking her in the back. She feels uncomfortable with Laurin's apparent excitement when there are so many people around them.Viridi stops and with a loud high-pitched neigh he informs. "We're at the witch." He tosses his large head and stomps impatiently with his oval shaped hooves in the rocky ground.Everyone looks up. The cliff of the mountain side is enormous. On the top of the mountain the gray shades shift in the light, carving dark contours into the rugged surface in the shape of a face. Tears flow through an endless stream from the eyes cut into the stone. In fact, it looks like the mountain is crying real tears.A little further ahead, below the mountain, runs an immense alley of green lush trees. Viridi stops."Are you sure this is what yo
Indra sighs heavily. The rain pours down over the barely visual dusk covered deep valley. Most of yesterday and almost all of this day they have been searching for the three demon horses across the vast open spaces. Indra has always been proud of her ability to catch wild horses in Asgard. With her sharp mind and great sense of hearing, she has been one of the best at tracking the beautiful wild horses. No wild horse ever escapes her, even in the thickest fog. Tonight, there is no fog, but the dark and persistent rain disrupts their repeated attempts to outsmart the demon horses.Something's moving at the edge of Indra's peripheral view. She casts a quick glance to her side, and there basking in the faint moonlight, stands Laurin as a motionless Greek statue. He's wearing a pair of loose-fitting pants that clings to his wet legs, his muscular torso is bare and glistens in the dull light. He is barefoot and ankle deep in mud, his body language shows his frustration at today's
When Indra opens her eyes early the next morning, her gaze immediately focuses on her backpack, which contents lays scattered around her."But who ..." She sits up and looks around. The others are fast asleep spread out in a circle near the smoldering fire. The fog is dense and damp over the green meadows. She looks down at her backpack and glimpses something in the open compartment that shimmers faintly in the soft morning light. It's the gift she received from the fairy queen Melia. How could she forget it?She picks up the gift in her hand and inspects it closely. It’s a thin light Byzantine silver chain with an intricate design with a rope-like texture. Each of the chains links passes through four others making the chain both strong and flexible. Indra tugs the chain gently and it immediately gets longer. She quickly ties it together into a lasso, gets up and looks at the sleeping men. Imagine how surprised they would be if she managed to catch one of the dem
The mandatory alarm rings out loudly, as it always does in Asgard when something or someone unauthorized and not yet invited enters the Vikings dimension.The persistent high-pitched sound cuts through Indra's sensitive ears. Laurin lets go of her waist and writhes in agony from the intense sound. Indra decides to take a detour and show herself to Heimdall, so he can see that she is the one who has come home to Asgard again.Heimdall stands tall and blows hard into the Gjallarhorn to warn the Vikings, but then he looks up and sees Indra coming towards him. She pulls on the reins and Rubrum slides the last few meters until he comes to a complete stop in front of Heimdall."It's me. Heimdall, I'm here to talk to Odin.""Greetings, Indra, and welcome home! You've been missed." He smiles welcomingly."Thank you. I've missed you too.""Although you are welcome back, I am not sure Odin feels the same way about your new friends." Heimdall nods to L
It is late summer, but the weather is chilly, as it is almost always in the northernmost part of the Nordic region. The midnight sun shines with its last rays and guides them through the mountain’s ranges. The winds that form powerful gusts across the open, barren landscape make Indra's frozen fingers cramp as she holds the reins."Where are you taking us?" Laurin whispers in her ear. His breath is warm on her skin and creates small faint tufts in the air around them."We're going to Abisko in northern Sweden," she says, smiling with rattling teeth."That explains why it's so damn cold."” Mm …”"I know a way to warm us both." He moves his hands tighter around her waist, pulls her closer to his chest and kisses her in the neck to emphasize his words. She shudders under his warm lips trailing along her neck, and she's about to turn around to meet his soft lips in a kiss, when Rubrum interrupts her with his soft voice inside