Chapter Eleven Mist

I t took me a second to get my bearings. Slipping through whatever magic Baldr had cast was an exceedingly strange feeling. As I sat up and shook my head, I reached down, my fingers expecting to make contact with cold, unforgiving snow. Instead they found only long grass and damp earth. I opened my eyes at last, staring out at my surroundings.

I was in a field of tall green grass swaying in the warmth of a summer breeze.

The sun was high in a clear blue sky, warming my skin in a way I hadn't felt in years. All around me wildflowers dotted the landscape in bursts of vibrant color. In the distance I could see the edge of a forest, its leafy canopy rustling gently. The air was filled with the buzzing of insects and chirping of birds - sounds I had almost forgotten existed after so long in the silent, snow-covered dome.

For a moment I sat in stunned silence, overwhelmed by the sudden shift from frigid winter to lush summer. It was as if we had traveled not just through space, but time as well.

Baldr.

The thought of him snapped me back to reality. I whirled around, searching frantically until I spotted him lying motionless a few feet away.

“Baldr!” I cried, scrambling over to his still body lying in the grass. My heart pounded in my chest, threatening to burst. “Baldr! Are you okay?”

I shook his arm, trying to wake him up. But there was no response. Ice cold fear filled my chest immediately as I thought the worst. I stared at his chest for a moment, looking for the telltale rise and fall of his breath. But I couldn’t tell if my eyes were making it up or if he wasn’t moving to begin with. Leaning down close, I put my ear up to his mouth.

There, hardly more than a whisper, was his breath. I breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t dead, thank the gods. But he was very unconscious. No matter how much I tried to rouse him, he didn’t respond. It was only when I pulled my hand away from his shoulder and noticed the blood smeared across my palm that I remembered the gunshot.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I muttered, ripping my bag open.

Thankfully it had made it through the portal with us, the strap tangled around Baldr’s feet. I pulled out my favorite blanket I had wrapped up inside and ripped a long strip out of it without a second thought. I needed something to stop the bleeding and we could always find another blanket now that I was free.

Freedom… at last.

I shook my head, pushing the thought away. I could steep in that revelation later. Right now Baldr needed my help. I carefully lifted Baldr's shirt, examining the bullet wound in his shoulder. The bleeding had slowed, but it still looked nasty, the torn flesh reminding me of some of the wild game Tyr had brought me to survive on. It always seemed to look like it had been mangled beforehand, though I never knew how.

I pressed the strip of blanket against Baldr’s wound, applying firm pressure to stop the flow. As I worked, I couldn't help but marvel at how warm and soft his skin felt under my hands. Even injured and unconscious, being close to him made my heart race. It was totally inappropriate, but still, I couldn’t help it.

“You're going to be okay,” I murmured, more to reassure myself than anything. “I'll take care of you, just like you've always taken care of me.”

Once I was satisfied the bleeding had stopped, I used the rest of the blanket strip to bind the wound as best I could. It wasn't pretty, but it would have to do for now. I gently lowered Baldr's shirt down and sat back on my heels, unsure what to do next.

We were somewhere. And that was about all the information I had. I didn’t know what kind of magic Baldr had done to get us there, but clearly it had taken every last bit of strength he had left to make it happen. Wherever we were, it was far away. There was not even a hint of winter in that new place and everything was more alive than I thought possible. The breeze was warm, the sun felt incredible against my skin, and for some reason, it seemed to be late morning instead of night like it had been back in my dome. How far had we traveled that so much could have changed so quickly? I seemed to recall the fact that the southern hemisphere of the planet had opposite seasons from us. Could he have taken us halfway around the globe in the blink of an eye?

I wasn’t sure. And sitting around wondering wasn’t going to get me anywhere. But I knew I couldn’t go far from Baldr either. Besides, I didn’t know what kind of people or animals might be lurking around the picturesque scene I found myself in. Still, I thought it best to at least get my bearings and see if there was any fresh water nearby.

I carefully rose to my feet, scanning the surrounding area. The grassy field stretched on for quite a way, dotted with colorful wildflowers swaying in the warm breeze. To the east, I could see the edge of a dense forest about half a mile away. The trees looked tall and lush, their leaves a vibrant green. In the opposite direction, the land sloped gently downward before rising back into tall mountains that seemed to stretch into the heavens. One of them, I noticed, had a strange outcropping on one side where a massive waterfall fell for at least a hundred feet, shimmering in the sunlight. At least that meant there would be water, I just wasn’t sure how close by.

I decided to head that way, hoping to find a stream or river at the bottom of the valley. Before leaving, I knelt beside Baldr once more.

“I'll be right back,” I promised, brushing a silver lock of hair from his forehead. “Just going to look for some water. Don't go anywhere, okay?”

Of course, there was no response. With a heavy sigh, I stood and began making my way down the slope. The tall grass tickled my legs as I walked, occasionally brushing against my hands as I held them wide to soak in the sun.

It was an alien feeling being on my own without a barrier confining me to a small area. And a little unsettling. Inside my dome I knew I had nothing to fear except for Tyr’s rage. But that only came once in a while. However, there were no predators, wild animals, poisonous plants, or anything of that nature to worry about inside the dome. It kept everything out, and me locked inside. Now that I was free, the fear threatened to consume my ecstasy.

Instead of worrying, I tried to focus on the sensations all around me. The grass against my palms had tiny little teeth at its edges that seemed to cling to my skin. I could feel sweat starting to pool under my layers of ratty clothing that had previously helped keep out the cold. For a moment I considered taking them off and leaving them to be collected on my return trip, but I didn’t want to lose them in the grass. It was warm now, but if Baldr opened another portal back home, it wouldn’t be anymore. Instead I peeled the top sweatshirt off and wrapped the arms around my waist, tying them in a knot at my belt.

As I came over a small ridge, I looked out onto an open valley. And there, shimmering in the sunlight, was the water I’d been searching for. A wide sparkling river flowed in a serpentine pattern through the grassland. Even from a distance I could see the white rocks and sand that made up its shore. It looked clear enough to drink, and I’d certainly had worse in my time under Tyr’s care.

With that worry aside, I headed down the hill, letting my thoughts wander. And, of course, they went right back to Baldr. I recalled what Tyr had said before he shot Baldr, saying out loud the words that I thought I’d kept so hidden and close to my heart. But it seemed like my secret wasn’t so secret after all. The moment Baldr was in danger, I’d shown my hand.

I wished I could take it back, to stop that moment from happening so Baldr didn’t have to hear it from Tyr first. However, I didn’t have that kind of power. Not even close. And since Baldr was currently unconscious in the green field behind me, I couldn’t talk to him about it either and clear the air. What was I going to say to him anyway? That it was all a lie? Could I really manage to speak those words without giving myself away?

The answer eluded me and by the time I reached the river, I still didn’t know what I should do about it. Of course, that was pushed out of my mind the moment I knelt down to drink from the crystal clear water flowing swiftly over the white stones. I cupped the cool water in my hands and drank deeply, trying to push thoughts of Baldr from my mind. There would be time to sort out my feelings later. Right now, I needed to focus on our survival in this strange new place.

The water was refreshing, washing away the taste of smoke and fear that had lingered in my mouth. I splashed some on my face as well, scrubbing the dirt and grime from my skin. Before I knew it, I was stripping off my clothes completely and climbing into the river. The cold water stung against my skin, but the heat of the sun helped drive it away just as fast. I waded out to the center, looking around to make sure nobody was watching from the grass nearby. In my dome I didn’t have to worry about being naked in plain sight, no one could see me anyway. But out here… well, anyone could walk up at any time and I had no idea where we were. Still, I couldn’t turn down my first proper bath in years. The dome had a small pond, but it was smelly and stagnant. This was fresh and clean running water, something I’d never known until now.

I scrubbed and scrubbed, even going as far as picking up a rough stone from the shore to scrub the dirt off the bottoms of my feet. Ten minutes later, cold and skin pink from the friction, I emerged from the river. I stepped onto the shore, relishing the feeling of being truly clean for the first time in years. As I did, I caught a glimpse of my reflection on the rippling surface.

I hardly recognized myself. My hair had grown long and wild, tangled with leaves and debris that the water didn’t quite wash away. A scraggly beard covered the lower half of my face. A bruise had formed on my right cheek where Tyr had struck me before we escaped. My eyes looked haunted, with dark circles underneath speaking to years of restless sleep. No wonder Baldr had seemed so shocked when he first saw me clearly. I looked more like a monster than anything. So why had he called me handsome?

Shaking my head, I went back to my pile of clothes near the edge of the tall grass. I decided to wash them in the river and just walk back to Baldr with them in my arms. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a soul around. Besides, I wasn’t ready to give up the warmth of the sun just yet, not after I’d been fighting off the cold for weeks in that little hut. So, I spent the better part of another ten minutes scrubbing down my ratty clothes the best I could, wrung them out, tucked them under my arm and headed back up the hill with my dick to the wind.