Winter Solstice Winter - Book I in the Viking Blood Saga

Ailia fell fast asleep. In her dream she found herself alone on a high mountaintop dressed in a simple, white, long-sleeved robe she had seen other youth wear at their baptism and confirmation. Heavy snow fell from the sky and the winter wind was so strong that it pushed her body off balance as she walked forward into a white abyss. Looking forward, she saw the silhouette of another taller mountain lingering in the distance.

  Then, just as quickly as it had started, the snow stopped, and the burning yellow sun revealed itself in the suddenly blue sky. As she felt the sun’s warm and soothing rays on her face, she closed her eyes to enjoy a rare moment, soaking in the life-giver’s glorious rays. She breathed deeply as if to fill her body with its healing virtue, not understanding how she could have ever forgotten how pleasurable its heat felt on her skin and on her hair. It feels like paradise. Then, in the near distance, she heard a man’s voice calling her name.

  “Ailia!” he beckoned.

  She opened her eyes and looked around. To her surprise, all the snow on the ground and mountains had vanished. Golden rays from the sun smothered the regal mountains as the bottomless deep blue waters from the old, wise ocean flowed between them. How could she have neglected to remember how breathtakingly sublime summer was and how exquisite nature was all around her?

  The mountainsides were covered with resplendent green fern trees and the water lay resting still, mirroring the breathtakingly beautiful scenery above. Anemone Hepatica flowers covered the aspen forest grounds to her left. These delicate blue flowers only blossomed in Bergendal during late springtime and were Ailia’s favorite flower. She hadn’t seen them in forever, it seemed. Down by the lake, she saw Uncle Brander and Aunt Unni and also the town’s Bishop, Peter, standing by a Stave Church. They were all looking in her direction, smiling at her.

  Brander summoned her again. “Ailia!” he called. “Here!” He waved his hand to come join them.

  Excited to see them, she waved back and started running toward the fjord. As she felt the cool grass beneath her bare feet, a child-like laugh spontaneously escaped her lips. She smiled, and for a moment, she felt like a carefree child again.

  The palisade dark mahogany church was situated to the right of the fjord. It had five tiers of dark-brown, double-sharply sloped roofs, shell-like exterior shingles and intricate carvings of dragons and Christian images and symbols. Ailia remembered that Unni and brander had recently joined the new religion. Ailia had wanted to join the Christian faith, because she liked how merciful and loving their god was.

  Ailia slowed down as she approached her family and Bishop Peter. As soon as she reached them, she embraced Aunt Unni and then Uncle Brander, who were both beaming with joy.

  “We have missed you so, Ailia,” Brander said, tears streaming down his normally jovial face.

  She didn’t know how long she had been away and had forgotten that she was dreaming—the dream seemed so real.

  “Today is your day to be baptized and confirmed,” Brander said. He gestured toward Bishop Peter.

  “Today, you will be baptized and confirmed a member of the Christian faith. By so doing, you will swear to follow Christ and all His teachings. You will swear to live a life of service and virtue and always remember Him,” Bishop Peter preached.

  Ailia looked at Brander and he nodded. Ailia looked back at Bishop Peter and nodded, yes.

  “Then, to prove your commitment to Christ, enter these waters today and be baptized in His holy name,” Bishop Peter said, extending an inviting arm.

  She took his arm and together, they entered the cool, clear waters. They went out until the water reached Ailia’s waistline.

  Bishop Peter raised his right hand. “Do you freely confess that you are a sinner? Do you place your trust in Christ as your Savior and repent of all your sins?” he asked Ailia, his voice a supplication.

  “Yes.” She nodded.

  “In accordance to our Lord’s teachings and by His command, I baptize you, my Christian sister, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

  “Amen.” She inhaled and held her breath before she was submerged.

  Bishop Peter placed his other hand around her waist and pushed her under the water.

  Ailia’s feet lifted off the bottom of the ocean. She felt the cool, cleansing water enclose her body, leaving her feeling buoyant and unrestricted from the forces of gravity. As she went to place her feet on the bottom of the ocean to come back up again, she couldn’t find her foothold. And then she noticed that Bishop Peter’s hands were no longer around her waist. They had disappeared along with him.

  The water grew freezing around her, and when she opened her eyes, it had turned so dark it was difficult to see anything at all. She started swimming upwards toward the dim sun, and as she drew closer, she saw that ice had started to form on top of the water. As she reached the surface, the ice had completely covered the entire fjord, leaving her trapped and unable to break through. Ailia hit the thick ice with her fists as hard as she could, however, it did not make a single dent. Now, she could feel that the air was running out of her lungs and her sense of panic increased.

  Just then, she saw Eiess standing on the ice above her. Terror clutched her heart. What is she doing here? Eiess looked down on Ailia triumphantly, not saying a word. Ailia pounded the ice with her now bleeding fists, but it was useless. She could no longer hold her breath and went to inhale.

  Just then, Ailia woke up with a scream. She gasped for air and yelled out.

  Soren was quickly by her side. “What is wrong?” he asked, his eye scanning her face.

  Ailia covered her face with her hands and exhaled loudly. “It was just a dream. I’m sorry I woke you,” she said, dropping her hands into her lap. “It just seemed so real. I do not want to talk about it.” A new maredream to worry about.

  “You do not have to tell me if you do not want to,” he said.

  Soren looked at Ailia and his gentle gaze had a calming effect on her. She decided to tell him about her dream anyway, even though she feared he might react negatively to it like her friends had. “I have these—recurring maredreams about an evil empress,” she started. “I don’t even know if she exists, but if I did ever meet her, I’m sure I would feel just as terrified as I do in my dreams. I started dreaming about her about a year ago. Her name is Eiess,” she said.

  Soren’s eyes flinched. “Ah, I see.”

  Ailia braced for a lecture, or for him to tell her she was possessed or cursed, or for him to start ignoring her.

  “She does indeed exist and she is as terrifying as she is rumored to be,” he said.

  Ailia’s heart overlooked a beat. “What?” she said. “She exists and you know of her?” She felt relieved that she was not crazy after all. But then she felt terrified that Eiess actually existed.

  He nodded. “She is the one who usurped the Northlandic Throne about four months ago and instigated the eternal winter,” he said. “She is as real and as evil as they come.”

  Ailia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Now her maredreams took on a whole new dimension. If she hadn’t been terrified before, she definitely was now. “So, you’ve met her?” Ailia tried not to sound too shocked about this information, but her mouth had become so dry, she was hardly able to get a word out.

  “Yes, on several occasions,” he said.

  “How did you meet her?” She she sat up a little straighter, her appetite whetted with curiosity. She had finally met someone who could help her make sense of her dreams and excitement grabbed hold of her.

  “You should get some sleep. You need rest so your leg can heal,” he said.

  She was not having it. She’d waited a long time for an explanation to her maredreams. “I’m wide awake.”

  “All right.” He picked up a few fresh branches and some firewood and added them to the dwindling fire. “The first time I met Eiess was when I was a young boy, nine, maybe ten years old. I was living in Trollsoe at the time with my parents and three brothers. Eiess wa
s riding in her sleigh with another woman, a young woman who looked absolutely petrified. I remember it so vividly, because I was struck by Eiess’ beauty. I had heard about her from my parents, but I did not really understand who she was until much later. In my young mind, I had envisioned Eiess to look absolutely terrifying. When her sleigh passed through my village, I recall being impressed by how enormous it was. Her green eyes pierced right through me, as she slowly sleighed by and she smiled at me.”

  Ailia could see by his facial expression that he was envisioning the moment clearly. She knew exactly what he meant by her piercing green eyes.

  Then he continued pensively. “It was not a normal, happy smile, but a smile of a scheming, hateful nature, as if she knew what great evil was going to happen to me in the future. I wonder if she knew then exactly who I was and what wicked vices she would curse me with.”

  Who is Soren really? Ailia wondered.

  “She never was one to look after the well-being of another.” Soren stopped and looked at Ailia directly. “We never spoke that day, but her glare left a lasting and chilling impression on my soul, an impression that terrified me even more than any threatening beast or demon could have.”

  Ailia was gripped by his experience and desired to learn more about the empress. “She sounds so—mystical,” Ailia said for a lack of better words. “You said that that was the first time you saw her?”

  “The second time I met Eiess was years later. My wife, Lucia, and I had just moved into our first home in Trollsoe and we had been married the first time for almost two years.”

  Wasn’t that the name he mentioned when he saw me? “The first time?” she asked, thinking that was strange.

  “I will explain later,” he said. “Lucia was from Trollsoe and another Sentinor had told Lucia’s mother and father, before she was born, that another baby, a boy, would also be born in Trollsoe and that we were separated Spiritus Amor. That boy was me.”

  “Spirit Am—?” Ailia asked confused. “Iluxia?” She didn’t want to let him know she had dreamt of Iluxia also, since she didn’t know whether or not to trust him completely yet.

  “Spiritus Amor,” he corrected gently. “When our souls were formed in the immaterial realm, we were created together, as soul mates, if you may, but two separate individuals to perfectly fulfill each other’s incompleteness.”

  “How do you know that?” Ailia asked. She regretted asking the question immediately, afraid he wouldn’t share more if she became too skeptical. However, she could not fathom how anyone would be able to remember the pre-mortal sphere, if there even actually was one. “I’m not saying I do not believe you, though. I have just never heard of such things.”

  “I do not exactly remember it, but Iluxia has told me about it.”

  “Who is Iluxia?” Ailia asked, wanting to learn so much more

  “Iluxia is the leader of the lightelves. He lives in Alvheim. He is one of Midgard’s four protecting Sentinors, who covenanted at the beginning of the Midgard’s creation to protect humanity. He also helps change the seasons with the Sun Queen and the Aesira Jewel.”

  “I thought the Aesira Jewel was just a myth, too,” Ailia said.

  “No. The Aesira Jewel was created by Iluxia and it has been passed down through the generations of Sun Queens since the beginning of Midgard’s existence.”

  “Where did such a powerful jewel come from?”

  He hesitated for a moment, glancing at Ailia with a watchful expression.

  “I won’t tell anyone. I promise,” she said.

  His lips quirked up into a half a smile. “It is not that what I am worried about. Information like this can become lethal if you have it.”

  She thought about his remark for a omen before saying, “I’d rather know the truth and be in danger than know ignorance and pretend to be safe.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Indeed.” Stirring the flames with a stick, he started explaining. “Iluxia captured seven thousand years of the sun’s rays and soldered it into an eternal jewel called the Aesira Jewel. The jewel was created for one purpose and that was to keep the balance of Midgard’s seasons, so humanity could survive. To release the Aesira Jewel’s powers, the jewel’s key and the jewel needed to be used by Iluxia and the Sun Queen of the Aesira bloodline.”

  “Where is the Aesira Jewel now?” she asked.

  “I am not sure. It has been missing since Eiess took over the Northlandic throne. Usually, the jewel has been kept hidden by the Sun Queen, so that no one can misuse its powers.”

  “How do you know about the jewel?” Ailia asked.

  “Maybe I will tell you some other time.”

  Ailia squinted her eyes. Another time? There wouldn’t be any other time after she had returned home and married Geir.

  Soren paused and looked at Ailia as if he had just realized something.

  “What?” she asked, feeling self-conscious from the way he studied her face.

  “I think the reason I feel I can be so open with you, is that you remind me of someone I used to know.” He shook his head and huffed.

  “What?” Ailia endured. There was a long pause. Finally Ailia retorted, “Well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  He looked at her and they both smiled at their newly created inside joke. “The same year we moved into our new home—was the same year that Eiess destroyed the entire town of Trollsoe, letting her Surtorians rage through the streets and scorch the city unrecognizable.” He paused.

  Ailia thought about her dream and how similar it sounded to his story. Were her maredreams of another time? Perhaps she could see into the past.

  “Lucia and I had discovered Eiess living in the Black Glaciers and had started planning our attack. Lucia, being the Great Sentinor, created and destined to destroy Eiess, became a serious threat to the empress and the empress quickly came up with a plan to kill Lucia,” he said.

  Ailia had heard stories about the Great Sentinor when she was a child, but as she grew older, she dismissed them as nothing more than mere fables. “The Great Sentinor is a real person?”

  “Yes.”

  “So she really, truly exists?” she asked again to make sure she heard him right.

  “Yes.”

  She hardly dared to ask, but she had to know. “Are you a…Sentinor?”

  He paused and looked away. “Yes,” he finally said. “One of the original four.”

  A Sentinor. She felt honored to be in his presence. “What happened to your wife?” Ailia asked concerned.

  “Eiess cold-bloodedly murdered her,” he said. “The empress was determined to destroy Lucia, so Eiess devised a plan to kill her while I was away on one of my trips. Eiess followed Lucia and her friends one day when they went out for an afternoon walk. They had down to the fjord to read and write poetry. Eiess captured them all and drowned them one by one, forcing Lucia to watch each of her friends die. She saved Lucia until the end and took her out on a boat into Trollsoe Fjord. When she had reached far out into the fjord, she threw Lucia into the water with a weight tied around her ankles. When Lucia hit the bottom of the fjord, she was able to undo the knot on the weight and began to swim to the surface. Right before she reached the surface, Eiess froze the fjord over, so Lucia became trapped under the ice. She drowned,” he said and paused.

  Ailia felt all the blood leave her face.

  “You do not look too well. I hope I have not frightened you with my story,” Soren said.

  “No, I, uh…I just… My dream last night and my other dream was about what you just described,” she said disturbed—confused—afraid. “Except…I was the one who was underneath the ice.”

  He leaned in and squinted his eyes. “You mean your dream last night was about the exact thing I am telling you right now?”

  “Well, not exactly. There were other things that happened. I was to be baptized into the Christian church, but at the end, before I arose from baptism, I was trapped underneath the water, underneath all the ice the empre
ss had created and she was looking down on me,” Ailia said distressed, remembering her dream.

  “Oh,” Soren said, looking surprised and without an initial response. He then gazed into the fire for a long while, a serious gaze. “Eiess has this bizarre ability to go into people’s dreams and pull out information, truths if you will, from their thoughts, or even to give people information she wants them to know. You said you never met her, right?”

  “No, never.” Ailia shook her head. “I didn’t even know she actually existed until just now.”

  “Well, she certainly knows about you!” Soren nearly yelled.

  Ailia looked at him in disbelief. She knows about me? How could this have happened? Am I indeed cursed as my friends claimed?

  “She must know something important about you or want something from you. It is vital we discover what that is before she finds you.”

  “Finds me? You mean to say she’ll come after me?” Ailia asked, feeling every muscle in her body tense and tremble.

  “Most likely—if what you are telling me about your dream is true,” he said.

  “Well, I will run away then,” Ailia blurted out, throwing her arms up. Her heart had begun to race as her chest seemed to close up. Though Ailia hardly knew anything about the Empress, she knew one thing for certain: she was no match for Eiess.

  “I do not want to alarm you, but Eiess will find you no matter how far you run away. She has thousands of Surtorians roaming every dark corner in Midgard. She has had thousands of years to build her legions and if she sets her mind on doing something, she will get it done. There is no winning when one competes with Eiess. The only person who can do that is the Great Sentinor,” Soren said. “Even she has failed and lost her life twice already.”

  “I don’t want to have any part of this. I just want to go home and live my life like I have before,” Ailia said perturbed, the knot in her stomach tightening by the second.

  “Then she will surely find you.” Soren spoke softly. He looked Ailia sincerely in the eyes and touched her arm.

  A wave of energy went through her body at his touch.

  “If you let me, I would like to help you solve this enigma. It has been my life’s mission to conquer the empress and I would be very interested to learn why there is a link between you and her.” He waited for her answer.

  Ailia did not like that there was a link. “Why is this happening to me? I’m no one special. My parents died when I was young and I have no wealth, no influence and no connections. I cannot even keep my friends! This is—oh—wrong!” She stood up and limped back and forth, trying her best to avoid putting any pressure on her injured leg. Finally after fretting for a few minutes, she calmed down and settled into standing on her left leg. “Why?” she exhaled. She couldn’t help from crossing her arms. “I’m nothing but a peasant girl.”

  “The empress must know something about you that you do not know,” Soren reiterated. “That something is what we need to uncover.”

  Ailia thought for a moment, but she couldn’t come up with anything of value to add to or refute his statement. “What do I do?” she said, noticing how her mind refused to function at all it would seem.

  “I will help you get home to your family in Bergendal and you should let your leg heal before we decide to do anything. Perhaps your family has some insight into this puzzle and of your disappearance,” he said.

  Ailia nodded in agreement, even though she knew she wanted no part of this.

  “Just remember: you are not alone. There are many, many others who would like for nothing more than to see the empress dead and gone.”

  “All right,” she said. “You must promise to help me. I cannot do this alone.”

  Soren nodded. “I will do what I can to help.”

  The sun had begun to reveal itself beyond the horizon. Soren rolled up the furs, while he had Ailia sit on the upside down turned pot. Placing his thumb and index finger inside his mouth, he whistled loudly.

  A large, black horse came running from the woods. The stallion’s silky mane waived in the wind and its hooves hammered the ground in a perfect rhythm, kicking up the snow behind him, as it gracefully trotted in their direction. The horse stopped right by them and Soren firmly grabbed him by the reigns, stroking him briskly on the neck. Neighing in acceptance, the animal’s warm breath turned to smoke in the chill air.

  “This is Volomite, my trusted companion,” Soren said.

  “Glad to meet you, Volomite,” Ailia said, feeling he needed a proper salutation and curtsied.

  “I will have you ride him, but we will want to move slowly to not agitate your wound.” Soren secured a brown, worn saddle and attached his pots, bags and furs on it. “That should do it,” he said. “May I help you onto Volomite’s back?”

  Ailia limped closer to Soren and let him put his hands around her waist. Reaching for his shoulders, she placed her hands securely on top of them. She could feel his warm breath on her face and the warmth from his body. Standing this close to him, she noticed that his short beard had traces of gray in it. He seems too young to have any gray. Underneath his over-coat, she felt his strong shoulder muscles and she blushed, thinking it had been a long time since she had been this close to a man—at least as far as she could remember. A feeling of longing overcame her and she felt herself drawn to Soren, wanting to stay in his arms a little longer.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Ailia replied and looked up into his bottomless, blue eyes. There was something so familiar about him and she found herself growing frustrated being unable to remember.

  Soren hoisted her up like she weighed nothing. “I am going to walk with Volomite the first while, until we get out of these wretched glaciers. He does not do too well traveling on the slick ice,” he said.

  Volomite neighed, as if in appreciation.

  “How is your leg feeling?” Soren asked, looking up at her.

  Ailia’s leg had started hurting again, but she decided to not complain about the pain. “Good, thank you,” she said.

  “Here,” Soren said, handing her a piece of dark bread. “Eat this. It will help with the hunger and the pain.”

  Ailia hadn’t noticed how hungry she was until now. She gratefully accepted the food and started eating.

  “Let us hope we do not run into any brigands. That will be the death of us,” Soren said as he began walking.

  Ailia clenched the handkerchief in her pocket and considered throwing it out without him noticing. I don’t want him thinking that I’m associated with brigands or the Vik people.

  11

  The King’s Sacrifice