Warmagic

19 - Drums of War

We both jumped out of bed when Tyr slammed the front door open and rushed into the room we were sleeping in. At first I thought he was angry, and for a moment I felt bad for spending the night with Vidar. But then my eyes fell on the lifeless infant in his arms and panic rushed through my body.

"Help me," he begged with tearfilled eyes, "he's not breathing!"

Before I had time to react, Vidar rushed forward and grabbed the child from his father's arms and moved his thumbs along the centre of Ari's chest. I watched in agony as Vidar moved a finger to separate the tiny lips and searched his mouth for forreign objects.

"He was happy and smiling this morning," Tyr whispered, "then as he was feeding, suddenly he stopped." Tyr rubbed his forehead," Noora cried out to me and said something was wrong with him. So I picked him up and ran over here."

I grabbed Tyr's hand and held it tight, noticing how cold and damp it was. I wanted to hold him, tell him that everything would be alright, that Vidar would save Ari. But I couldn't. I just stood there keeping my eyes on the child and prayed to the gods that he would survive.

After a quick examination the big wolf hoovered his mouth over Ari's and blew short and steady puffs of air between the tiny blue-colored lips. A white glow left his big palms and entered the lifeless body between them.

"How long has he been like this?" My maður asked harshly after a few breaths, and cast a quick eye at Tyr who was struggling to stay calm beside me.

"He was still breathing when I left the hall with him."

I focused my hearing but there was no signs of breath from the child, but I held on to the sound of a faint pulse from a weak, beating heart. I was concentrating so hard that I jumped slightly when Tyr grabbed my arm and shook me.

"Why aren't you doing anything!"

The panic and anger in his voice were evident, and at first I wanted to scream back at him, but then I reminded myself of the anguish he was going through. "Tyr, this is not a sickness. This is dark magic. You need to trust Vidar," I stammered with tears in my eyes, trying to stay calm for him.

I could see Tyr's chest rise and fall with rage boiling inside. "I will kill him. I will charge out there and kill him with my bare hands," he hissed between his teeth. "First you, and now my son. The two people that are most important to me."

I felt the need to hold Tyr and grabbed his upper arm with both hands, desperately, to keep him from running out and actually doing what he had just said. "Love, you need to stay here. Your son needs you," I begged and looked between him and Vidar.

My eyes trailed down to the child. The colour of his skin had turned to a more healthy one, but my dark lover still struggled with dispelling the curse. I could see it in his pensive expression.

"I will kill him," Tyr insisted but, thankfully, seemed to have calmed his impulses to run to the níðingr's hut and kill him right away.

"Freke," Vidar whispered and turned to me, forcing me to stay in the present and I stared hesitantly at the taller wolf, "Ari needs your healing now."

With those comforting words, I rushed forward and took the child from his arms, pressing him tight against my bare chest and letting my energy flow freely into the child's body. I stood like that until I felt my spirit connect with his and I could see where the darkness had injured him.

Slowly I moved towards the bed, sat myself down on the edge and closed my eyes to connect to the healing spirits around me, asking them for aid.

Outside of my thoughts I could hear Vidar talking calmly to Tyr, "I cleansed your son from the curse. But he is weak and he needs to be with Freke now."