“Not so fast, you whore of ice,” he shrilled but Freya threw herself down, sliding on the snow away from him. Swarog went right after, looking so angry she thought he would head butt her.
“You forget that there is a big difference since the last time you met me,” Freya said as she crouched in the snow in front of Swarog.
Freya rose. “I can do things I couldn´t before.” A true god grin spread across Freya´s gentle features. “Dance.”
Swarog´s mouth opened widely as if he prepared himself to yell but no sound came. His head twitched backwards, moving frantically back and forth and then side to side. His arms flapped and his legs seemed boneless, unable to stop moving. A panic stricken expression covered his face as froth started coming out of his mouth.
“I will scald you until you turn to charcoal for this,” Swarog said between the foam.
Freya laughed, her laughter flailing in the wind and she started running. She had to get back to the river, dive into the water and then she would swim and Swarog would be unable to catch up with her…
Freya let out a gasp, almost slipped when Swarog transported right in front of her. He seemed to have gained some control over his movements and she backed but he followed.
“The skills you have thanks to me may work well on lesser immortals but it won´t work as well on Swarog.” His head jerked with one final twitch and then he stopped dancing. Freya tried running away, but once again he grabbed her and she screamed in pain.
“How I love it when they scream,” Swarog said, just like the last time, and there was a perverse soothing in his voice. He pulled off his glove with his teeth. “And I will compensate you for the treat.” The hand was glowing red. “How about I mark you right on that pretty face of yours.”
His hand descended. He was going to burn her!
Freya blinked from a movement that was so fast she barely saw it. Swarog was gone and she was lying in the snow. Confused she looked around, only to see Wolf standing before her.
Swarog was on his knees and Freya couldn´t understand why, until she noticed that his legs had been severed by his knee caps. He was whaling in pain while Wolf breathed heavily, his shoulders moving up and down.
“Run Freya,” Wolf shouted at her. “Run back to the castle.”
The castle? No, she needed to get to the river, swim fast and hide but Freya was unable to move. She couldn´t leave Wolf…
“Watch out,” she screamed when Swarog´s hands shot out and he grabbed branches from a tree, turning them into flaming rods that he hurled at Wolf, but he skillfully avoided them and they fell to the ground, melting. Wolf didn´t waste a second, grabbing snow in his hands that turned into two ice spears.
Swarog regenerated quickly, already growing two new legs and Freya screamed in agony when she found Swarog, right next to her, seizing her by the throat and Wolf roared in rage.
“Don´t fucking touch her!”
His eyes were glued to Freya who looked back at him with sorrow. With her mouth she formed the words I´m sorry but it only made him frantic, making him growl and his muscles rippled powerfully, his focus turning to Swarog.
“But I made her,” Swarog said. “I made her who she is and I can do what I want with her, touch her, burn her…”
Wolf readied to charge, a bestial look on his face.
“Stay there,” Swarog said, quickly taking a step back. “You will let us leave, because if you kill me,” he smiled cruelly, “Freya will get back her mortal soul and reach the afterlife.”
Wolf paled when he remembered. His face went emotionless. The snowstorm seemed to still, snowflakes were twirling around him where he stood, frozen in his armor. His large body shuddered and Freya could feel his excruciating pain and it threatened to ravage her. And yet she whispered, between trembling, broken lips:
“Do it. Kill him.”
“She doesn´t know what she´s saying,” Swarog spat. “All this cold has gone to her head and it´s your fault Frost Bringer.”
Wolf didn´t seem to be hearing him. His eyes zoomed in on Freya and he looked both stricken with fear and as if he was stranded but they were losing time. If Swarog managed to transport Freya away from here…
“Kill him!” Freya croaked.
Can´t lose her, the frost seemed to whisper.
“Please.” Her voice turned begging, causing Wolf to react and he fired a blaze of frost that hit Swarog right in the chest. He flew several feet and before he had a chance to recover, Wolf grabbed him by his throat and Swarog started turning into ice. His eyes filled with dread, fixated on Wolf´s violent face which would be the last thing he would ever see.
With a quick move Wolf grabbed his ice spears and went full guillotine on Swarog, causing him to explode in pieces. The frost immediately took care of it, burying it deep underground.
Freya smiled to herself.
He had done it.
Swarog was dead.
And then she frowned, feeling something pulling inside of her, luring her to fall into a promising sleep…
When Wolf turned around, he found Freya lying in the snow and in an instant he was on his knees beside her. She was even paler than usual; her lips had a blue tint and her eyelids were fluttering. Life was leaving her. Taking her away from him.
“No, no, no,” Wolf said, covering her with his sable coat and brought her into his arms. “Freya, stay with me.”
But it was as if she couldn´t hear him anymore.
Freya was watching the birches swirl over her head and it was as if she
