36. Erik

Andvari’s cold essence leaked through my veins. I was a monster in full form. A beast without thought or reason. The slayer was my target. And I had a singular desire driving my movements: to drink all of his blood until this need was sated.

I sensed Idun’s power behind his blows, making him a savage opponent, one that I needed to end.

I was an animal; a starved wolf desperate for this meal, nothing but a husk to be filled. But I was done throwing punches and cracking bones, it was time to rip open flesh and sinew, find the sweet nectar my body craved.

The only way to end this agonising thirst was to give in to my most primal need.

As Magnar came at me once more, I raked my nails down his chest, tearing his skin apart. He roared his rage, throwing another punch but I dodged it, guided by Andvari’s gifts as I darted between his arms. My fangs sank deep into the thick muscle of his neck and the ache in me grew more desperate, demanding I drink every last drop of his life-force.

Magnar fisted his hand in my hair, ripping my teeth free and pushing me back. His face was contorted and caked in filth. Blood marred our flesh and was reflected in our eyes. Red...everything was red.

My true self flickered on the edges of my mind, desperate to take back control. Shock momentarily seeped through me as I managed to reclaim some small part of myself. For a brief moment, I governed my own actions, just enough to stay my hand. Trembling with exertion, I wrestled to shake Andvari’s hold on me. But Magnar came at me like a freight train.

As his fist impacted with my head, I caught a glimpse of who I was again. Rebel entered my mind and love spilled into all the dark shadows Andvari had cast inside me, stitching them there once and for all. But I could break the threads if only I could hold onto the thought of her.

I searched left and right, finding the golden cage empty and panic started a fire in the pit of my chest.

Where are you?

Another punch from Magnar brought the god’s power flooding back into me like a tsunami. I fell into another desperate, endless fight with my enemy. My body was battered, torn, breaking and re-mending.

It couldn’t go on forever. One of us would fall. It was all I wanted. And yet, on the verges of my being, I sensed I desired something beyond that. A yearning only my heart knew. A girl with dark hair and eyes that captivated me in every sense of the word.

I didn’t know who she was, but somehow, impossibly, I needed her more than blood. More than anything.

The darkness of Andvari’s magic sank deeper, burrowing into my body and driving out everything but hate. And I was a demon once more.