Chapter Eight Mist

D arkness had settled in for the evening and I found myself outside the warmth of my hut. The fire was blazing inside and I was shivering in the cold. But I couldn’t stop myself from going outside. It was one of those rare winter nights where the sky was clear and the stars were bright in the heavens. Of course, that usually meant it was much colder and tonight was no exception. My breath frosted in the air in front of me as I tipped my head back and stared up at the stars stretched out above me.

I didn’t know their names or their stories, but I didn’t care. Those little dots in the night sky were my friends and constant companions. After all my time trapped in the dome, I’d come to memorize their locations and the way they shifted throughout the night and the seasons. There were some that glowed brightly, making all the others look dim. And then there were those that sparkled blue, green, or red. They were beautiful and filled me with awe. I knew enough to know they were billions of miles away and unreachable by anyone. They made me feel small and insignificant, but somehow that didn’t make me sad. In fact, it made me feel a little less lonely to see them all floating in the darkness. Maybe, somewhere out there, someone else was looking up at me and wondering the same thing.

Maybe Baldr was staring up there and thinking of me.

The thought of him made my stomach twist painfully. He’d been gone for nearly an entire day now and I was beginning to worry. Of course, he told me the journey to see the witch would take an entire day just to get there, but for some reason I was convinced it wouldn’t take him as long. He was a powerful witch himself, so I thought the journey would be easy. However, I assumed the witch that entrapped me was powerful too. For all these years her spell had kept me a prisoner, and I doubted it would take anything less than a grand piece of magic to bring it all down.

I wished I could do it myself.

With my face still tilted toward the stars, I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. The cold filled my lungs, numbing me from the inside. I used it to focus inward, allowing my consciousness to sink down into the center of my being. There I could feel the well of power bubbling just below the surface. My magic, even from a safe distance, reminded me of wild things. Not just animals or the natural world, but the chaos of shifting continents and erupting volcanoes as well. Something about it was far more primal than anything I’d ever come in contact with.

To be honest, it scared the shit out of me. And that’s probably why I pulled away from it the moment I started to feel the power reverberating through my body. Despite my desperate need to leave this prison, I couldn’t force myself to touch the magic I needed. It felt like trying to will myself to stick my hand in the hot coals, knowing full well it would damage me beyond repair. I just couldn’t do it.

So, opening my eyes once more, I stared up at those stars, wishing someone, anyone, would come and save me from the nightmare I was living in.

The cold started to settle in. My fingers and toes were numb, plus I’d started to shiver. As much as I wanted to stare at those stars all night, I needed to warm myself back up. Baldr wouldn’t be back for some time, so there was no use standing out in the cold hoping for the impossible. For now I could content myself with imagining his face and how it might feel to finally hug him for the first time. Or maybe even kiss him. I’d wanted to do that for a long time. Among other things of course, but I tried to keep those fantasies to myself. The last thing I wanted was for them to spill over our telepathic bond and give Baldr a show he didn’t ask for. Besides, I wasn’t sure he was even into that sort of thing.

However, no sooner had I started back toward my hut than I felt the familiar ping in the back of my skull. I spun on my heel, my gaze fixed on the northern border of the dome.

“Mist!” Baldr’s voice shouted inside my mind. “North side!”

I was already ten paces ahead of him. The moment the connection formed, I was running. And I didn’t stop until I reached the far end of the dome, Baldr’s familiar face on the other side of the barrier. I slapped both hands against the barrier, smiling wider than I thought possible.

“You’re alright!” I shouted, making no attempt to hide my joy. “I was so worried!”

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” he replied, his voice full of the sound of his smile. “And I’m going to get you out.”

My heart nearly stopped in my chest. “R-Really?”

“Yes.” He sounded confident. “I promise.”

My stomach twisted into several knots as I tried to contain the surge of hope filling me from head to toe. Nobody, not even Baldr, had ever been able to damage the dome or dispel it. Even Tyr could do little more than cut a hole for himself that resealed the instant he was on the other side. Sometimes even that simple gesture was difficult for him. Could Baldr really have figured a way out of this nightmare at last?

“And we need to hurry. Tyr could be coming,” he added. “In fact, I’m almost certain he will.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why? He doesn't know you’re here, does he?

“No,” Baldr replied, shaking his head. “But he might know the witch who built this is now dead.”

“WHAT?!” I saw Baldr flinch, my voice filling both our minds. “You… You killed her?”

“No. My mother did.”

“The protection spell?”

“Yeah. The witch usually takes payment in the form of stealing life so she can live longer. That was her promised bounty from Tyr for all her hard work trapping you. But for some reason she decided she wanted to eat me instead.”

I made a disgusted noise that made Baldr laugh.

“Yeah. My thoughts exactly. But she didn’t know who I was until it was too late, after she tried to run a blade through my heart.”

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. The wolf side of me healed the wound in a matter of minutes. But my mother’s magic… well, let’s just say not even the witch’s shoes were left after that blast.” He chuckled under his breath. “It even destroyed her house.” Then he lifted his left hand, a smile curling over his face. “But not before she told me about this.”

I stared at the old leatherbound book. It wasn’t any larger than some of the books Baldr brought to read to me. However, the cover was inlaid with strange symbols I’d never seen before. They looked much different than the letters in the books he read.

“What is it?”

“My mother’s spellbook. And I’m going to use it to set you free.”

“Can it do that?”

“It has to,” Baldr replied without missing a beat. “I just have to find the right spell.”

“Then what will we do?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a smile. “And it doesn’t matter. We’ll run away if need be. Without you here for Tyr to manipulate, his pack will be easy to subdue. Not to mention, any magic the witch gave him to fight should be fading by now.” His own words seemed to startle him into action. “That’s why we have to be quick. He’ll notice she’s gone when the spells start to fade.” He kicked the dome with a fair amount of malice. “I just wish this stupid thing would fade too, but she tied it to the land and to you from what I can tell. It’s not going anywhere as long as you’re still inside.”

“But if you can get me out…”

“Then it should disappear, yes.”

My heart was filled with so much joy I thought I’d float right on up and off the ground.

“Are you sure you can do it?”

Baldr hesitated before he said, “I’m going to give it my best shot.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Gather up whatever things you want to bring with you,” he said. “Because once I crack this fucking thing open, we’re gone.”

I smiled wide, feeling the giddiness well up inside me. My heart was racing and my limbs buzzed with energy as the adrenaline rushed through my bloodstream. I was finally getting out. After all these years of being treated like an object and tortured by Tyr, I was finally going to be free. I didn’t know what to expect on the other side or what might happen when Try found me missing, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was leaving this hell hole with Baldr on my arm.

And maybe, if it turned out I wasn’t just projecting onto my friend, I’d tell him how I really felt about him.

What a happy life that would be.