Midnight Eclipse (Paranormal Viking Romance, Completed)

Chapter 12: Valhalla

Caution: This is quite a violent chapter, and while I tried to not elaborate too much on the gruesome details it may be disturbing to some readers. (I don't want to spoil people but if you're worried the content may be triggering I wrote a recap of the chapter at the end. So you can read that and then decide if you want to read the whole chapter, or just skip to the next one and still know what's going on plot-wise)

Greenland, 15th century

For once, I feel completely at ease. I'm not even cold. Gudrun's warm skin heats mine and I heat her in return. Golden curls fall across my bare chest as we lay entangled on the damp moss, watching the sunlight rise above the mountains. But the new morning isn't ours, and neither is the day that follows. All we have is the dawn. If only the dawn could last forever.

I don't have hope for us, but I have peace. I can leave now and know that Gudrun is not his, and never truly will be.

She's not mine either. She never has been. But I am hers for eternity.

I allow myself to close my eyes, drifting into beautiful dreams of eternal dawn as my head rests on her hair. Our clothes are strewn around us. We can't be bothered to pick them up just yet. Everything will have to wait for just a moment.

My lips nudge her cheek, urging her to look my way, and my hand cradles hers.

That's when a primal roar interrupts our intimate entanglement. A roar that I'm all too familiar with.

They don't call me Björn the Bearslayer for nothing. I've slayed beasts that make that sound.

As I open my eyes, the beast is mere feet from us. It snarls, displaying sharp teeth that can snap off limbs. Judging by its mangy appearance--dirty fur hanging in tufts over thin limbs--this bear is starving. Just like us, it's desperate to find anything to eat on these shores, and to a bear, we're food. Delicious sustenance served on a platter.

I jump up, pulling up my trousers in the same movement. Luckily, I never completely shed them, and the fabric was instead left hanging around my legs.

Shoving Gudrun down on the moss, I place myself between her and the hungry beast.

I've slayed a bear before. I can do it again.

But my bow has disappeared into the underbrush and my sword is safely tucked away at home. All I have is a small dagger hanging from my belt. A small but trusty dagger.

I killed a bear with that very dagger when I was twelve. Although that time, I had surprise on my side as I flung myself from a cliff down onto the predator, somehow hitting the exact right spot on its skull with the blade. Perhaps luck played a bigger part than skill on that occasion.

I don't have surprise on my side this time. The bear saw me way before I discovered it. Apparently, a massive beast is better at sneaking than I ever will be.

Hopefully, luck will be with me once again. It's all I have to rely on.

I don't even have a shirt on. But still, I believe I can do this. Because I have no other choice. I can't let the bear reach Gudrun.

So I grab my dagger firmly, knowing that if I let go we are both doomed.

"Björn, don't," Gudrun whispers behind me, lightly tugging on my pant leg. "We need to run."

"It's too late," I snap back, without taking my eyes off the bear. "It's faster than us. I need to kill it."

It may be faster, but I'm smarter. At least I hope I am. I better be, or soon it will be all over.

Crouching low, I aim to strike before the beast does. As the bear's eyes dart from me to Gudrun, I see an opportunity and throw myself toward white fur and jagged teeth, hoping to hit that one lucky spot in the back of the neck.