Liam

Chapter 36

Liam had gone to the apartment to get some things for Rayne. His stomach was too tight to eat. He was packing some clothes when he heard a sound behind him.

"You always did have a weakness for witches, didn't you Loki?" a woman's voice spoke softly from the corner.

"Who are you to call me by name?" he growled, calling his daggers to him. "Show yourself!" A tall woman stepped from the shadows. It only took a moment for him to recognize her - Angrboða, the mother of his children, Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. He had not seen her in centuries. "What brings you here, Angrboða? What tidings do you bring?" Liam did not relax his pose. His relationship with her was tenuous at the best of times and downright violent at its worst. He had used and betrayed her in his old days, and she knew it.

She stepped a pace or two closer but kept her distance. "I mean you and your witch no harm. I came at the request of our daughter." Loki's daggers disappeared. He grimaced as he remembered the false image he had seen in the Fallen Land. "She has seen a vision, Loki, and it frightens her." Angrboða lowered her face. "She has seen a threat of death in your near future."

Liam felt as if the air had been pulled from his chest. How could this be? "Does she know if it is my death, or ..." He couldn't finish the question. "What must I do to avoid this fate?"

Angrboða shook her head. "I do not know, and you as well as anyone knows that visions are never clear." She paused and glared at him, "Why are you here, Loki, why do you meddle in the realms of others yet stay away from your own?"

He said flatly, "I have no connection anymore to our realms. We have long since parted, our children are grown and slaves to their own fates. I find no home in Jötunn and am not truly one of the Aesir, only their companion at their whims." He thought of Rayne, "I too was given a vision long ago, and it was Rayne. Now that I've found her, I will not let her go."

He turned to face Angrboða, "However, I do owe you an apology and a debt of gratitude for the gift of our children. I was never truly kind to you, Angrboða, but you put up with me anyway. For that and more, I thank you and wish you well." He bowed his head to her.

"My, my, she really has changed you, hasn't she?" Angrboða mused, "I never thought I would live to see the God of Mischief utter an apology rather than an excuse." She began to turn but paused. "I do not pretend to understand your actions, but I do hope you find a way to keep the happiness you seem to have found. Be well, Loki." She nodded her head and vanished.

Liam quickly grabbed the bag and teleported back to Rayne. He was surprised to see her grandmother at her bedside. "Rebecca?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "Well hello Trickster. I was hoping I'd get to see you." She gave him a firm hug, "This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm so sorry. Come and sit, we need to talk." Rebecca explained her fears about the gello. It was a revenant of sorts that steals the potential of unborn children by killing them before birth.

"Maybe that is what Hel saw?" Liam gasped.

Rebecca paused, "What do you mean?" Liam began to explain Angrboða's visit and Hel's message to her father.

"Do you know what her vision means, Grandmother?" He looked at her with pleading eyes. She could see his worry and fear, but she did not have words to ease his mind.

She held her hands in front of her and looked downward, "As Cailleach said, yours and Rayne's futures are clouded with pain and trouble. I had hoped it would clear once you had defeated Eris, but there are still trials in your future." She looked up and said with certainty, "I cannot say if death awaits both of you in the near future, but I do see death taking you both eventually. This does not surprise me about Rayne, it is a natural course for her, but for you Liam, it is an entirely different matter." Rebecca walked to the window, looking at the night sky. "Your destiny and future were once set with the Norse Gods, but now it is as if you have two paths and for all my gifts, I cannot see which one you will follow. It may be that the Fates have created a new path for you." She turned to look at him.

They both turned as Rayne began to murmur in her sleep. She cried out and then began to seize violently. Liam tried to keep Rayne's body still. Her back arched and her limbs flailed as her body continued to seize. Maab quickly placed her hands over Rayne's head and heart. Her body began to relax, but she did not wake.

"This is beyond human ability, Liam. She needs to go home," Maab spoke. Liam nodded as he waved his hand, removing the IV and dressing her in a white gown. He lifted her bridal style, and they all returned to Tír na nÓg.

"Put her on the bed," Maab said to Liam. She yelled for a maiden to bring her herbs and water. "Valerian, burdock, and mugwort. Make sure you bring moon water only, go now quickly!" Nimuë had arrived in the room. Seeing her daughter's condition, she looked at her mother and began to place sigils of protection around the room and on the windows.

"What is happening to her?" Liam stood near the bed, holding her hand, blinking back tears.

"It's hard to say," Maab said, dabbing Rayne's forehead with a washcloth. The young maiden returned with the herbs and moon water. Maab began to crush the herbs together into a powder, then she placed them in a fine cloth and steeped them like tea in the moon water. She strained the water and placed it in a small cup, "We will have to get this down her throat." Liam lifted her head and tried to project to her, Drink this Rayne, it will help. Maab placed the cup to her lips and poured a little into her mouth. Rayne did not swallow. "Pinch her throat gently, we have to make her swallow." Maab tried again as Liam gently squeezed her throat. They managed to get a small amount of the tea down her. "Dip this cloth in the tea and wash her lips with it every 10-15 minutes. It will soak in and some may even make it in her mouth." Liam did as Maab instructed while Maab and Nimuë discussed Rayne's condition.

Ástvinur, can you hear me? Please answer me, Rayne, please - Liam tried again to reach out to Rayne's mind. She did not answer him. "Why can't she hear me?" Liam asked the woman, as tears fell down his cheeks. "What is happening to her?"

Nimuë stood on the other side of the bed and shook her head, "We don't know, Liam. All we can do now is wait." She looked down at her daughter and smoothed her hair. Liam could see the fear and pain in her expressions. She felt as helpless as he did. "Just keep trying to reach her, Liam. That may be our best hope. My mother and I are going to speak with the dead to see if they know anything." She bent and kissed Rayne's forehead before leaving the room, softly crying. 

Author's Notes: Please do not mix the herbs mentioned here unless you are experienced in creating tintures.  Valerian and mugwort can cause harm if not in proper proportions.  

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