Ascension Chapter 9

The following morning dawned gray but the rain stayed away. When Loki knocked on the door of the cottage and opened the door to peer in, he saw the fire in the hearth burning low but other than that, there were no signs of the women. He ventured round the house and out to the barn, the plainative lowing of a cow in distress quickening his step.
              He walked into the barn to find Brenna laying in the hay of her stall, her sides heaving as Sally patted her head and Eidra knelt at her backside by the light of a lantern hung on a post beside her.
              "Loki, I am so glad you came. Breanna is ready to deliver but we may have to move the calf around to help her." Eidra rose from the hay and brushed her hands together.
             "I know nothing about birthing livestock, I fear I will be of little help."
              Sally laughed, "Just stand and watch, and if ye see the calf's backside, ye might lend a hand."
              Brenna's sides heaved and she lowed pitiably. Loki looked to Eidra, "When did she start laboring?"
             "Oh we heard her not far past midnight." She yawned, "I am near to exhausted." She flopped down in the hay beside Brenna, her back to the stable wall. "Would you like to keep vigil with us or have you better things to do than stare at a cow all morning?"
            Loki lowered himself to the hay beside her with a sharp intake of breath, but was finally seated beside her. He picked up a piece of straw and began to play with it.
            "Do those ribs still trouble you?"
             He was touched by her concern, "Only a little. I did not heal as quickly as I usually do. Perhaps it is this place."
              "Tir Na Nog has strong magic." Sally murmured.
              Loki chuckled, held out his hand and whispered " En varm lys til å lyse min vei."All at once an orb of yellow light appeared to float above his palm.
             "Goodness me!" Sally exclaimed, "How did ye do that?"
              Loki winked at Eidra, "Strong magic." and he saw her face then in the glow of the orb, mesmerized, but more than that.
              "Tell me, Eidra, tell me what you are seeing." He kept his voice soft, soothing, not wishing to startle her.
               At first she said nothing but continued to stare at the light, then her voice, dream-like, "I see a dark river."
              "Look around you, what else do you see?"
               Eidra's eyes slid slowly to her left, "Something in the river, and I hear a sound like a waterfall."
               Brenna lowed again, louder as her sides strained and Eidra shook her head, the vision gone.
               "Loki, what did I see?" She felt as if she'd had a very real dream.
                He closed his hand into a fist and the orb winked out. "A special place I showed you."
               He waited for her to tell him that he was talking nonsense again but to his surprise, she seemed to think for a few moments. "It was dark there."
               "It is behind a waterfall."
               Brenna brayed to the roof and heaved once more.
               "Look Eidra! I see something." Eidra scrambled to her feet. The sac containing the calf had started to emerge.
               "Thank the gods, I see a nose."
                Brenna strained again the the membrane broke open revealing the brown and white face and forelegs, the eyes wide.
                "It looks surprised." Loki knelt down for a closer look.
                "Consider where it is right now. Would you not feel the same?" Eidra kneed him gently in the back.
                 With a final great groan, the rest of the calf slid out onto the hay. Sally clapped her hands as Brenna turned her head to nuzzle the little bundle, her long tongue licking the calf's head. Eidra reached over to clear away the membrane still stuck to the calf's sides and then sat back on her heels to watch Brenna clean her newborn. "The miracle of life, in such a place as this. What a wonder it must be to have a child."
              Loki cast a quick glance at her, keeping his reply inside his head. She had begun to listen to him, not to scoff each time something more was revealed to her but he suspected that to repeat that she did indeed have a child would be too much at this time.
              "It is a wonder. What is it?"
               The calf struggled to it's knees but no further and Eidra leaned forward. "It's a boy! Sal, it's a boy."
              Sally crawled over to look. "Joy! We shall be able to let him out for stud. Perhaps when he is old enough, we may mate him with Corrine."
               Brenna had regained her feet then and they stood back, watching as the calf made to rise with her, hungry but Brenna's rough tongue knocking it off balance as it wobbled to the hay again, finally getting its legs centered below it and standing, looking for a teat. As it began to suckle, Sally elbowed Eidra, "What shall we name him?"
            Eidra looked at Loki, "What would you name a boy?"
            Loki was playing in his mind the countless conversations they'd had about baby names. The calf shook itself, the action toppling it to the hay once more.
           "What of the name Magnus?"
           Eidra glanced at Sally who nodded, "Why not. It sounds like a strong name."
           "Magnus it is then. We should tell David that the calf has been born." She turned to Loki, "He is the man who owns the stud, Magnus's father."
            "I'm going to put the kettle on." Sally put her hand on Eidra's arm and headed out the barn door leaving the two of them watching Magnus explore his surroundings, followed by a very diligent Brenna.
             After a moment, Eidra leaned against Loki's side, "The vision I had, was it real?"
             "Yes."
             "How do you know?"
              He held up his hand, "I was there."
              "But I did not see you."
             The calf bumped into Brenna's side, rubbing its head against her.
               "That I cannot answer, perhaps I was standing beside you or behind you."
              "It is maddening." She stood straight again, "Come, let us get inside, leave mother and child be. I am weary and hungry."
               With one last backward glance, they walked out of the barn towards the cottage. As they reached the flagstone path to the door, Eidra turned to Loki, "In a couple days, there will be another reel, will you attend?"
             "I do not know, I must have a reason to go." She could hear the teasing in his voice.
              "Accompany me. I grow tired of not having a man on my arm."
              "But you have Sally to accompany you." He smiled as she shoved him,
              "Bring Chris, he can attend to her."
               "Eidra, do you mean to say you would rather be seen with me?" He had stopped now just before the door, she facing him.
                "Does that surprise you?"
                "Yes." He hesitated. "Though I would much rather spend time with you here. Time alone without Sally in our midst is so rare."
                  "Time alone?"
                 He closed his eyes, pursed his lips together, "I feel we cannot talk freely with her here. It is no fault of hers."
                Eidra seemed to consider this, she raised one eyebrow, "I do not know if Sally would go without me."
                 "Convince her to let Chris accompany her. We go to hunt on the morrow, I will talk with him."
                 She wrinkled her nose and giggled, "Why does this feel perfectly wicked?"
              "Keeping a secret often does. Now hush, you tend to yours and I will tend to mine."

              And so he did. He was up well before dawn that next morning, shaking Chris's bedstead.
            "Come on, you layabout. We must beat the sunrise to be ready for our prey."
             Chris waved him away and pulled his blanket up to his chin whereas Loki tore it from his hands. "I promised the ladies a share of our kill, would you disappoint them?"
             Chris opened one eye to peep at him, "I daresay even the dumbest creatures in the forest are asleep at this hour."
             Loki was sitting in a chair at the table, pulling on his boots, "And that is why we must endeavor to be hidden before they awake. You have hunted many a time, nothing has changed."
             "Loki, my boy, you have years on me. I am old and slow." he swung his legs over the floor and groaned. "And grossly out of shape."
             Loki had taken his cloak off the peg by the door and fastened it about his neck. "Then this shall make you feel young."
             Chris shook his head as he stood up, "No, it shall make me feel older. Fetch me my britches from that chair like a good lad."
             Loki handed Chris his breeches, knelt by the fire to catch a piece of kindling alight, then opened the door of the lantern on the table, lighting the candle inside. Then he picked up his crossbow which he'd placed beside the door the previous evening. "I will make up for your shortcomings, my friend."
            Chris stamped his boot on the floor to force his foot inside. "It is a gargantuan task you take on for my shortcomings are many."
             
            They had elected to leave their horses down the trail a bit, near the deer run. Loki sat with his back against one side of the tree, Chris opposite him on the other side, his musket across his knees.
            "Are you sure you do not want me to show you how to shoot it?" Chris reached around the trunk and poked Loki in the side.
            "My crossbow does not recoil as much as your firearm. I am quite happy with it."
             Chris shrugged and resettled himself against the trunk. "Content, my musket is not as accurate but does greater damage. Together we should be able to bag us a haunch or two, what say you?
             "We shall see when it gets a bit brighter."
          They had extinguished the lantern after they had chosen the tree to sit watch by and now they waited for the horizon to brighten as they listened to the sounds of the forest waking for the day.
              "Christopher,"
              "Yes, my boy, I am still awake."
               "I did not expect you to be asleep."
               "Oh," Chris smiled, "Well then, what is it?"
               "I wish it were possible to show my appreciation for your hospitality properly."
                "Ah." Chris scanned the surrounding woods, " The feeling is mutual, you've given company and assistance to an old tired man thus I find it exceeding difficult to believe the tales you told to Fin."
                "Tales?"
                "Of your past, your imprisonment, the evil you claim to embody."
                  Loki frowned to himself, "You would scarce have recognized me when the madness was upon me."
                 "But 'tis all in the past. Why hold onto it so tightly?"
                  Loki reached around to grasp Chris's arm, "Shhh."
                  Chris leaned around the trunk of the tree, "A target?" He whispered.
                  Loki nodded, "He is not close enough yet."
                  They sat silent for a few minutes, "He is moving off towards the east but he has not scented us. We shall wait and see if he comes back this way."
                The woods had brightened up considerably, the sky bright but the sun not yet on the horizon, though the clouds moving in assured that the sun would only be a bit player that day.
                 "Chris,"
                  "Yes, Loki."
                  "There is a dance the evening after this."
                   "Hmmph," Chris grunted, "I wonder what the occasion is? 'Tis not the winter solstice already is it?"
                   "Not yet, soon. Are you planning on attending?"
                   Chris gave a laugh, "I go, Sally rebuffs me. I stand there and eat cake, drink ale or cider, and feel sorry for myself. Perhaps I shall stay by the hearth." He peered around the trunk, "Why do you ask? Have you a notion to go this time?"
                   Loki chewed his lip, "I had not thought of it. I wondered whether you might ask Sally to be your guest for the evening."
                   Chris roared all of a sudden and Loki clapped his hand to his forehead,
                   "You will clear this forest with another outburst like that."
                  "I'm sorry lad, it struck me so funny. You cannot think she would consider it. Why she'd sooner see me dunked head first in a horse trough than be caught with her arm in mine."
                   Loki leaned out and looked around the tree, "How long has it been when last you asked her to step out?"
                   Chris leaned over and returned his gaze, "My boy, were I not so confident, I would say you were up to something."
                   Loki looked at the surrounding forest, then back at him, "Were I to tell you, maybe you would take pity on me."
                   "Well now that all depends."
                   "Eidra wished me to attend the reel. I begged off. I wish only to spend time with her alone. Sally is ever at her elbow."
                    Chris slowly smiled, "Alone, my boy?" he waggled his eyebrows.
                     Loki stared at him for a minute, then realization dawned upon him, "Though I will admit to an all-consuming desire for her that has not abated in five long seasons. I will not jeopardize my cause in such a way. I wish simply to be with her."
                    "Of course boy, but you'd not say no were love to fall into your lap?"
                     Loki chuckled, "Were it to do so, I would not be so foolish to say no."
                     "That's my boy, very well. For the sake of your happiness, and quite possibly your libido, I shall make every effort to charm Sally from the cottage for a few precious hours."
                     Loki's broad grin was all Chris needed, he reached back and shook Loki's arm, "I will do my best, boy, I will do my best."