Blessed by the Gods

First Encounter

Her body tingled, and a voice inside her begged to give in, but a sudden wave of fear overcame her and she pushed Ivar off of her.

Thunder growled outside, and in her room, right before Ivar, Rùna stood still, her body frozen by the power that penetrated her skin and twirled inside her. It tore on her mind and streamed into every last blood vessel, taking over her body.

Ivar watched her twitch with every rumble of the thunder that had come out of nowhere. As Rùna began to shake in speak in Old Norse, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. Laying her on the ground, he sat beside her, his fingers intertwined with hers while she shook and spoke.

Her hand snatched from his and flew through the air, painting symbols into nothing, but the longer he watched, the more his eyes widened as he came to realise that the symbols she had drawn with her finger manifested into mist. Silver mist like Rùna's hair, and they spun around, first in the air, then around the two. Faster, up and down, forming a circle of light in which Ivar could see something, a vision like Rùna did, but it vanished with the next clash of thunder and the whole spectacle fell apart.

Coughing, Rùna rolled to her side, holding onto her chest that burnt as if a dagger had pierced through it and twisted until her heart beat no more. She moaned in pain when a wave of electricity shot through her body.

Ivar, who had placed his hand on her back, flinched and stared at his finger that with the sudden pain had turned white. It took a moment to regain their normal colour, and by that time, Rùna had recovered as well. She lifted herself off the ground and tumbled through the room to her bed where she dropped onto the sheets and closed her eyes. Still in shock, Ivar crawled over the floor to the curtain covered area surrounding her bed. A nearby chair as leverage, he climbed onto the bed and lay beside her, watching as her chest rose and lowered with every breath she took. "What happened?"

"The same as last night. It has never been this frequent" Rùna mumbled the last part and hoped Ivar would leave her be, but she knew better.

His curiosity had won him over and so he remained in her bed, so close to her, she believed to hear his heartbeat. It beat in rhythm to hers, like an echo, and when she turned to face Ivar, his nose touched hers, sending shivers down her spine. Never had she touched anyone, scared to hurt them, or that they would hurt her, and all of her family knew not to touch her, so did the servants. Not Ivar, he had no idea about her body's reaction to touching, or how it should react, like it had always done.

In this moment it did not matter more than the sun shining outside. No sign of the storm that had attacked their home minutes earlier. Unknown to others, someone had touched her without struggle, without experiencing the pain others felt.

"Your father told us about your blessing from the gods, like I have been blessed by Odin" The hair tickled Rùna's face when Ivar let his fingers run through it, and it fell in front of her. Laughing, he tucked it behind her ear and watched as her eyes followed his hand with every move, even though she could not see. "I saw something" he stated, halting his actions as her eyes returned to focus on his face, lingering on his lips as he spoke. "I saw a raven, black, covered in blood, it flew in between the symbols and vanished through the wall of light around us"

"A man, his legs bound, tied to the stomp of a tree. Nothing but a sword in his hand and the bodies of several men around him, their blood on his blade. I did not see his face, but he saw me and I know he recognised me"

Ivar sat up. "So you do see?"

"You cannot tell anyone, I beg of you. They will believe me to be a seer, but I am not. I never see the future for anyone. Not even my own. No man ever understands this gift as they call it" Rùna turned on her back and closed her eyes, a strand of hair twirled between her fingers.

A smirk ran over Ivar's face. "I will not tell a soul about this, if you spend time with me as promised"

Rùna sat up as well, her face turned to Ivar, who placed his hand on hers. "As you wish"