“Haven´t you heard? The Battle of The Three Realms has already begun.”
Freya had heard, the other god´s had casually mentioned it here and there. Wryfell the Seer of The Three Realms had decided to try to conquer all the three realms, together with his brother Swarog the Warden of Fire and his sister Lywra the Giver of Death and Ruin.
“Oh, yes I´ve heard,” Freya said. “But us god´s aren´t that interested in battles.” Not interested was an understatement. More precisely it bored them, since most battles took place on land and where were they going to drown their victims? In puddles? When he scowled she added. “Although is that why so many Ogres´s are crawling around all of the sudden?”
“Ogres´s,” Wolf said tensely, grabbing the hilt of his sword. “Where? Have they hurt you?”
“No, god´s are too docile to be considered as threats.” And by docile she meant not that powerful. Ok, not that powerful at all. The most powerful thing they´d ever done was killing a whole bus of mortal tourists after one of them decided to pour bubble bath in the river. Littering was a true crime.
“I don´t like that you are just out here, openly in the water,” he said and suddenly he looked worried, his brows harshly drawn. “Without any armor and nearly naked. You could easily get hurt. “
“Don´t you worry about me,” Freya muttered. “I can take care of myself.”
“You´re a god,” Wolf said condescendingly. “And not a murderous one at that. A Ogres could eat you alive before you even blinked.”
“Hey, don´t badmouth my kind,” Freya said, surprised by her defensiveness since she didn´t like her own kind that much. “And I am too diabolical, if I want to be. I can deal with Ogres´s.”
“How? By singing to them, drawing them into the water to drown?” Frustrated Wolf shook his head.
“No,” Freya said with indignation. “But I could make them dance.”
A strange sound came out of his chest as if he had tried holding in a laughter. He acted as if she had said something ridiculous and she shot him a stern glance, since he was only laughing because he didn´t know what it meant to be ordered to dance by a god.
“What exactly are you doing around here?” she asked in a slightly rude tone of voice. “Are you trying to protect the First Realm from Wryfell?”
“Amongst other things, but more importantly I am protecting my own home and I would rather die than see it in the hands of Wryfell or that disgusting brother of his, Swarog.”
Freya shivered involuntarily at the sound of Swarog´s name. Wolf took a step closer to her as if trying to comfort her but she shot him a stern look.
She didn´t need comfort, she needed something else, something like revenge. And unlike Wolf, the Battle of The Three Realms would serve her well, because if she was lucky, someone would make sure that Swarog got just what he deserved...
Quickly she turned her focus to Wolf again.
“Don’t let me stop you then,” Freya murmured. “I´m just going to continue minding my own business.”
Wolf ignored what she had said and rubbed his neck. There was a breeze blowing in from the forest, caressing the river and Freya could feel her nipples stiffening. When Wolf spoke again his voice was throaty.
“That song you were singing before. What was it, I´ve never heard it.”
Of course you haven´t, Freya thought, crossing her arms. It is a human song.
“Just something I made up,” she said and he nodded as if he was impressed.
“It brought me to you. I was on my way to speak with Dorian the Dark when I heard you. It stopped me right in my tracks. I was hoping you would be as heavenly as your voice and you are.”
“Thanks,” Freya said casually and at first his mouth slackened a little, due to the lack of feeling but then a muscle ticked in his jaw. He lifted his hand to her hair as if he wanted to touch it, but then he clutched his fist and let it fall by his side. Freya was happy that he didn´t touch her. She didn´t trust him or the way he was looking at her as if he any second now, would snatch her and take her with him. Why in the raving river had this cold male decided on HER?
“Would you rather I hadn´t approached you?” he asked when he registered her adverse reaction.
“Of course,” Freya said recklessly. “But I´ll tell the other god´s that you just stopped by to say hi and that you wish us no harm,” Freya quickly said. “And I wish you good luck with the battle thingy.” She was about to scram when he stood in her way.
“Why are you so eager to get away from me?” he asked.
Because you look like a more human and much more handsome version of a Frost Giant and because I don´t trust you. The only male who throughout the centuries had searched for her was Swarog. After a couple of tries, he had given up, giving Freya some much wanted relief but now there was this Frost Bringer…
“Um, I don´t really know you.” And she didn´t exactly want to either. Freya nurtured crops and he killed them with his cold.
“You will get to know me,” he said sounding confident. “Come with me now. To my home. To Ice Falls.” He reached out his hand for her to grab, but she refused.
“What in the first realm for?” Freya asked, worried about what he would say.
“There is something I could use your help with when it comes to defeating Wryfell. You will be useful to me and I will reward you.” His eyes flashed with suggestive promise. “Greatly.”
But Freya only shook her hair, making it fly around her delicate features. For a second she thought that he
