He does not hesitate and confidently encloses his inked hand over her lithe fingers.
“What do you have in mind?” He keeps his voice low.
She closes her eyes, recalling the sensation she felt the first time she touched the sapphire pendant hung around her neck. The trickling sensation creeps over her skin and spreads to her fingertips.
When she opens her eyes, he vanishes alongside her. A thin, ethereal shimmer shines around the outline of his form.
It worked!
“Do not let go of me, or you will become exposed.” She warns, somehow knowing if she releases him, that herseidrwill no longer extend to him.
“Understood. Lead the way.”
She squeezes his hand to reassure herself that he is still at her side.
Avina feels every muscle in her body tense, from the slumbering monster of the Abyss to her poor visibility of herself and Sigvid.
They crouch and take carefully placed steps across the expanse of grass toward the stream. Earth-shaking snores rattle the ground, nearly knocking her over into him. Thankfully, he catches her shoulders and steadies her legs.
When they reach the water’s edge, they halt, staring at the filter dam. Avina searches the water for any sign of anything odd or out of place. Her hand presses reassuringly over her bosom, where the sapphire stone pulses against her skin. She feels guided closer to the dam against the slits for the filter.
There!
Avina catches sight of a glint of metal reflecting below the water's surface. “Do you see something there?” She whispers. “By the filter inlet.”
His hold tightens while he leans as far toward the water as he can without releasing her. “Shit, you are right. Let me lean you closer to look.”
“Careful, if we are visible, the Ulv will sense us.” Waking the creature now would be disastrous.
He leans her body over the edge of the river. “Shit-” Avina slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp.
She grabs his forearm, and with a quick tap tap, he yanks her back to flat ground. She breathes into his ear: “A body.”
“Keep a hold of me. I will retrieve it.” He growls determinedly.
Sigvid’s thick foot connects with the freezing water. She watches as he wades out until his long arms can reach the corpse. He wriggles the body through the water, feet first.
The remains are half out of the current when Sigvid steps back onto the embankment, and the mud collapses under his weight. She hears the squelching of his legs sinking. Water splashes all over the front of her dress as his foot slips in his attempt to steady himself. Before she can process the chaos, they lose physical contact.
No!
Sweat trickles from her forehead as the world slows to a standstill.
Sigvid fully materializes, muddy, wet, and murderous with himself.
And then the Ulv awakes with a deafening growl. The gigantic wolf stumbles to its paws, shaking the ground.
“Fuck, stay invisible and pull this guy out. I will distract it.” He jumps out of the water
“Over here!” He runs through the trees, leading the Ulv away from Avina.
Maeve Goddess of Wisdom, I beseech thee. Protect Sigvid and allow him to return to Blackwood at my side. I live to one day sleep with the stone through your Golden Gates.
Okay, now, to pull this person out of the water.
Great, they’re bigger than me.
She exhales and yanks on the legs. As she does, she can see some fluids and bits of skin slither through the filter into the city’s clean water supply.
