Page 42 of Revenge of the Elf Lord

“Stoppen! Beweg dich nicht!”The first man yelled, telling them to stop and stay still as he skidded into the room. His pistol steadied, aiming at Cyran as three other soldiers fanned out around them.

Out of the corner of her eye, the soldier closest to her raised his pistol. His eyes swirled with fear, but his mouth was set in a determined grimace, and time slowed as his finger pulled back the trigger.

One second, she stared at the bullet as it exited the barrel. The next moment, she was twirled around with Cyran standing between her and the other soldiers.

He jerked her to him, her body fitting perfectly against his as everything went silent, and the room faded from view. “Hold on tight so you don't freeze. I do not have a warming spell as powerful as Freyja’s, but what I have will keep us warm enough until we reach Alfheimr.”

She shivered, the freezing temperature of space covering her exposed skin with a thin sheen of ice, but as it landed on her, it melted, proving Cyran right. His spell was enough. It did not allow the deadly crystals to encompass their bodies as they flew through the multiverse toward his home.

“I understand the warming spell, but how can we breathe?” she asked. “My father told me about space travel but never explained why he could breathe without oxygen.”

“Only a few of us can travel this way, and when we begin our training, one of the first lessons is a breathing spell. Some, like Freyja, used a large oxygen-filled bubble, but new spells were created as more research was done. With the new spells, we don’t need to breathe as often, making the small amount of oxygen our bodies create usable for longer periods.”

“And before you ask, I have no idea how our bodies create the oxygen. It just does. When I was a child, I overheard a group of gods discussing the process, but Heimdall came up with the original spells, so you will need to get your answers from him.”

Without thinking, she snuggled closer, her head cradled against his chest. Every word he spoke sounded like a nearby train, the low rumble growing louder in her ear.” A fire would be nice about now.”

He chuckled and the rumbling turned into tumbling rocks. “I wouldn’t suggest it. Introducing flames out here would light the gases all around us. People on Midgard would look to the heavens, observe the glow of the outer event horizon surrounding the resulting black hole, and wonder how it appeared so suddenly without an exploding star.”

“How romantic,” she sighed. “It would be like the stories the humans created behind star constellations, like Perseus and Andromeda or Vega and Altair. They are beautiful stories.”

“And very false. I have talked with Perseus, and he is appalled at the tale. The human, Ovid, had it correct that Cassiopeia was incredibly proud of her daughter, as she should have been. Still, the Romans had to make it about glory and battle and incorrectly added that Neptune was furious at her for putting her daughter above his Neirids, so he sent a monster, some say the Kraken, to punish the queen. The Roman sea god then demanded Andromeda be chained to the rocks as a sacrifice to the beast and their country saved.”

His arms tightened, holding her closer, a slight shiver moving through him. It took a moment of careful maneuvering, but she managed to wrap her arms around his waist. As her skin touched the back of his shirt, she realized the material was frozen stiff.

“Why was Perseus so upset? Isn’t that the story?” She splayed her fingers across the lower part of his back and subtly let her healing magic flow into him, but it did little to melt the ice. Her worry grew. With wet clothing, he would not last out here much longer.

“No, it isn’t. Perseus rescued Andromeda as she was falling from the top of the rocks. She loved walking along the craggy ridge every afternoon. That day, though, her foot slipped on the well-worn rocks. It rained a few hours earlier, and water still pooled along the rocky cliff. Perseus saw her fall, and instinct told him he was meant to rescue her. It had nothing to do with an angry ocean god or the disrespect of her mother.”

“Well, it’s still a beautiful story. How much longer will we be out here?” His body was constantly shivering now and fear overrode worry. If he lost consciousness, they would both die, and that wasnothow she wanted her life to end.

She increased the flow of power from her core into his, willing his body to warm up long enough for them to arrive at Alfheimr. At this point, she would takeanydestination.

“We are about five minutes away.” His voice sounded far away; the words slurred.

“Cyran!” she yelled, squeezing her arms around his waist as tightly as possible. “You can’t fall asleep!”

His head jerked, his eyes already closed. “I’m not sleeping.”

She unwound one arm from his back and reached up to cradle his cheek. Before she lost her nerve, she pressed her feet against his, using them as a stepping stool, and raised herself high enough to press her lips to his. Since meeting him, she often wondered what it would be like to kiss him, but those thoughts paled in comparison.

His lips were soft but firm as he responded. His embrace was so tight she had to drop her arm to his to make breathing easier. But, as his kiss intensified, something profound inside her broke apart and blossomed. One strong hand cradled her head, his thumb stroking her cheek, each pass sensitizing her skin and driving her crazy.

She had no idea what she needed, but an exciting maelstrom was building in her core, and she did not want him to stop. She wanted so much more.

As the overwhelming sensations heightened, a subtle change pierced through the pleasure. She felt the agonizing pain spreading through his body and pulled away. His skin was paler than usual for an elf, and he had tiny white lines around his eyes and mouth.

She had seen such scoring on her father’s face many times after he returned from a battle, injured and tired. Cyran’s handsome features had that same strained look.

“Cyran?” His gaze touched hers, but she saw no recognition in his eyes as his lids slowly closed. His head tilted to one side, and she framed his face with her hands to hold it up.

“Cyran! Wake up—answer me!” His eyelids remained closed as if he was in a deep sleep. Patting his cheek, she repeated his name like a mantra, patting his cheek and shaking him—anything to wake him.

Their steady forward pace slowed, and their bodies moved in a downward projection. Fear gripped her heart as they dropped faster through space.

“Cyran, I need you to wake up now. I’m not like those women in romance books who must prove themselves to the world—showing everyone they are just as capable as the men in overcoming whatever dramatic moment they need to move beyond.”

Her hand slapped his cheek, trying to trigger a reaction. A massive jolt shook them as they fell in earnest, hurtling by several giant planets.

---