After a long painful ride, we had finally found a suitable spot to camp for the night. A small opening between a large rock wall to cover us from the harsh northern winds. The short green grass provided us with extra comfort for our rest. The men had gathered logs for a fire and hunted a boar for a feast. As the sky was consumed by darkness and nightfall was upon us, we ate and drank by the large fire in the centre of the opening. The warriors told stories, sung and drank together, enjoying their time amongst us. Always in the centre of a feast or fire though, was Keon. He laughed with the men and told his own tales.
"And then! I set the bastard on fire! Nobody steals ale from the Dragon God!" He shouted, spilling his ale on himself. Everyone laughed and joked with him, Koba as well. I watched my company as I lied on my side, propped up on one elbow with my drinking horn in the other. As I laughed and watched my companions a moment longer, I took the last mouth full of my ale and rose to my feet. I staggered slightly as I made my way to my bed roll. The ale had hit me harder than expected. My bed roll was 3 furs placed in a bed like look on the ground, and by the Gods I have never felt such comfort. As I tripped over my drunken feet, I crawled slowly into my bed. I heard Keon's laugh as I crawled.
"Do you need a hand there my Grace!" He yelled as he also stumbled and tripped. The camp burst into laughter as he did so. As I made it to my bed roll I collapsed onto my back and stared up into the night sky, my vision somewhat uneven. I should not have drank that ale.
"Too much ale?" Said a staggering voice, Vili's voice. I looked over to see his staggering body walking towards me.
"Mmm, it'd been so long since I tasted it." I said as I turned my head back to the sky. Vili sat down next to me, practically falling down beside me. He laid down beside me as we watched the night sky and listened to our companions singing.
"This reminds me of the days went spent after our last battle, so drunk from mead we couldn't even sit up." Vili said.
"We usually passed out face first in a pile of mud." I laughed.
"And that one time you were in my chambers, naked as your birthing day." I added, recalling the memory of walking into Vili asleep and naked on my bed.
"Hmm, they were the good days. Simple and easy." He said. We remained silent for sometime, watching the night sky. After awhile, I looked at Vili assuming he was asleep, but his bright eyes were fixed on me. Lingering.
"Were you glad to see me when you awoke?" Vili asked, his eyes never leaving mine.
"That depends, when I saw you in the cave no. You already knew that, but the day after yes. I had wondered what you'd been up too, if you had raided any towns, seen more battles, if you had thought of me." I said looking back at the sky. Vili sat up and looked down at me.
"Not a day passed, where you didn't cross my mind. Everyday I wanted to walk up those stairs and wake you myself so that we could be reunited once again. The days were long, dark and lonely without you." He said, I sat up to meet his face.
"Not a day went by, where you weren't in my night walks. I saw you everyday in my slumber. It felt as if you were there with me, you had never left. Maybe you never did." I said, our eyes were fixed on each other waiting for the other to make the next move.
"I... I want you, Freydis. To share your warmth, to feel your touch." Vili said as he leaned in towards me. I thought it may have been the mead, but I leaned in and met his lips. I had never kissed a man before Vili, I didn't know if the sensations I felt were real but it was like he gave me life. My worries disappeared, the weight upon me left, I sobered and my body flew with sparks. His full lips moulded perfectly as if they were made to match mine. I leaned into him further and deepened the kiss, placing my hand on his cheek as he mimicked me and placed a hand on the back of my head. I felt Vili's tongue try and push its way into my mouth, without hesitating I granted him access to it. He groaned a beastly sound from his chest as his kiss became possessive and strong. It... excited me. Vili soon broke the kiss that left us breathless, I placed my head down and his lips made contact with my forehead. I opened my eyes and was very much aware of the large bulge under his leather pants. I looked back up at him, wondering why he had stopped, he noticed this.
"I am a berserker Freya, if I get a taste now, I will devour you in front of this entire camp." Vili said breathlessly. I looked around and recalled that we were surrounded by other men, nobody had noticed anything. Nobody accept Keon and Koba who had their eyes fixed on us with large smiles. Disgusting, I thought, they probably watched all of that.
"Do not think of this as me telling you I do not want you. I want you more than anything, but I will not take you here. I know the cost of me bedding you, but there will be no cost but a dream come true." Vili said as he placed a large hand on the side on my small face, his eyes full of restraint and lust.
"Luckily, I was willing to surrender myself and body to you just then. Anacalongon would have accepted you by morning." I teased with a smile, Vili's face dropping with an open jaw.
"I swear to the Gods I will take you the moment we are alone for longer than an hour." He said, his words meant a promise. Why an hour though, I thought.
"I have spent everyday since they day we met imaging the things we would do together and what I would do to you. These things will take time." He said, his breathing begun to get heavy again. I could smell the arousal on him, it affected me in ways I didn't want to admit to. He took calming breaths as he tried to calm the berserker within him, he was strong but his urges would often consume him. After he calmed he pulled as both back onto my bedroll with me tightly embraced in his arms.
"Sleep my rose, we have a another long ride ahead of us." He whispered. Was I truly going to sleep in the arms of Vili? My mind faded as I fell into a sleep.
I flew the skies of Midgard, ducking and weaving through the white clouds. My body flew fast and strong, my black scales glimmered in the sunlight. After my short race through the clouds I evened out my body and glided below the cloud line. I looked down and noticed the blue ocean below me and my homelands to my right, all seemed at peace. As glided through the air I noticed a another being in the sky. I looked to my left and noticed a spectacular golden beast flying a few metres from me. My dragon would usually fight at the sight of another beast of such size and power, however they flew side by side at peace. The dragon was a magnificent golden colour, a large strong body possibly just bigger than my own. Its large spikes and spines grew white they longer they were, the two large horns on its head were a black. I had never seen much a beast. The golden dragon looked over at me, its eyes as blue as sapphires, a colour that seemed so familiar with me. My beast hummed with appreciation. My beast knew this dragon, it knew it very well.
"My soul... My completion... My mate..." Anacalongon words rippled through my mind, as I woke up in a shock.
I sat up as I peeled myself from Vili's embrace, looking around I could tell it was very early morning. The sun was very slowly lighting its way through the darkness. Even though the air was cold, my body was hot and sweated from my night walk. Its been sometime since I had such vivid night walks. I looked at Vili who laid fast asleep and snoring beside me, I smiled remembering the moment we shared the night before. I looked around at my warriors who all still slept, I decided to get up and sit by the fire. I grabbed the last log and placed it onto the fire place so my warriors could still be warm in the morning to come, I took my place by the fire and watched it burn.
"I would like to say you had a good night, but a smooch then a cuddle is not what I would call a fun time." Keon said as he sat beside me, I was unaware he was awake.
"Unlike you, Vili has some respect for me. He was not going to pursue anything while we were being watched." I joked.
"Well, I give the man credit. He's waited his whole life for that moment and he contained himself. He gained my respect." Keon said with a large yawn.
"Vili gained your respect after our first glory, he out drank you and you made a song for him about it." I laughed, Keon did too. We sat in silence as we both watched the fire.
"Why are you awake so early? I wasn't expecting you to move anytime soon." Keon said.
"I had a night walk, my mind is to fixated on it to get any more rest." I said.
"Another night walk? What was this one about?" Keon asked, shuffling closer to hear my story.
"I saw another dragon, in my night walks. A dragon of golden scales and blue eyes." I said looking down at my hands.
"Another dragon?" Keon asked in surprise.
"It flew by my side, I felt at peace, there was no anger or hatred towards it. Anacalongon was happy..." I said.
"I heard the words, My soul, my completion, my mate. I think Anacalongon had found its mate in my night walks." I said.
"Or in someone." Keon said, looking over at Vili who was beginning to awaken.
"When I was in Asgard, I spoke with the All Father. He said that in time we will have a new God among our ranks. I think I have foreseen that new God, the golden dragon. Whoever it is, is part of my soul, my mate." I said, my heart tore at the thought of it not being Vili but Odin's words were always spoken with truth. He foreseen my future.
"What you share with Vili is no coincidence Freya, after we all connected I've been able to feel it. I have never been so lucky as to feel such a thing. What you feel for him, what he feels for you. In my eyes, you are both destined." Keon said with a firm hand on my shoulder.
"Go, get some more rest." I said to Keon with a smile, his face still looked drained of life and full of mead.
"What will you do?"
"I'm going to stretch my wings." I said with a smile as I stood up. Keon nodded as he stumbled back to his bedroll by the fire and almost instantly fell back asleep. I made my way towards the small opening opposite the camp site, just enough space for a shift. I left my two large battle axes by the entrance of the camp, I didn't want to lose them. As I reached the small clearing I cracked my knuckles and surveyed the area, I was going to have to jump up in order to reach the skies.
"Alright, lets do this." I said as I shook off the cold breeze, a black mist surrounded me. My bones broke, my body grew and my senses enhanced as I shifted into my great black winged beast. Within 30 seconds my shift was complete. My large wings hit the ground with force to act as my front legs, resulting in earth quake like vibrations to shoot across the earth, waking unsuspecting warriors. My body let out a small growl as I adjusted to the new sensations. My eye sight could sense any heat signatures near by, from a deer far away in the forest to a bird nesting in a tree near by. But my sight focused on a signature walking towards me, Vili. My large body turned to face him, letting out a growl as he walked closer.
"You fool!" I whispered in my mind as he got closer. I had almost full control over Anacalongon, but it had control when someone it didn't know confronted us. Everything was a threat if it was not connected to us, Vili and I had not laid together, he was seen as a threat. My body let out a loud growl as a warning, but Vili kept walking, my chest tingled with a familiar sensation. My fire was burning hot in my chest. Vili was truly going to become a pork roast if he did not stop.
"Anacalongon... No..." I whispered in hopes to speak with my beast. Koba who had noticed Vili walking towards me, got up and begun running.
"Vili no!" He yelled as he raced towards us, jumping over sleeping warriors.
"He is strange... He is a threat..." Anacalongon's voice whispered back as my body bared my sword like teeth.
"He smells of... Of..." The voice said, as I felt my body begin to relax. My large nostrils begun absorbing a scent of fresh rain, Vili's new scent. My large spiked snout became level with him, my eyes right next to him as I looked at him. He was tense, and scared but he was confident.
"My soul..." The voice whispered back to me in excitement. My soul? I thought. Vili reached his calloused hand towards my scaled face, we were both hesitated momentarily before his hand touched my scales, the spot above my large nostrils. My body relaxed and the tingling in my chest eased, Vili let out large breaths of relief as he comprehended what he hand just done. He had touched my dragon, he had just touched the most strongest beast in middle earth.
"My soul... My completion... My mate..." Anacalongon whispered as my red eyes of fury met his blue ones.