Truly Musing

Archive Page

Read what's done here.

The Samhain Gate

10/12/2009

Iris opened her eyes to see sunshine streaming in.

She sat up very slowly, testing her body. Her chest was still a little tight, but she could get a full breath. Her chest was wrapped in bandages and Iris could see her armor lying folded on top of her dresser, with the axes, helmet, and hairpin set next to it. The weapons and helmet were full-sized. She pushed the blankets back slowly, waiting for the pain. Her shoulder ached, but it was a dull annoyance instead of debilitating agony. She stretched her arms out in front of her and looked at her hands. The cuts and burns were already healing. She flexed her fingers; they didn’t hurt at all. Even the usual stiffness she’d come to expect was missing. Was she dead? She must be. There was no way she could have survived last night. Somehow, this wasn’t what Iris expected death to look like.

Slowly, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. Her knee was a little sore, but not enough to keep her from walking. It was also wrapped in bandages. The door was closed and Iris could hear noise on the other side. She crossed the room and unfolded her armor. Whatever was out there, she wasn’t going to face it dressed only in bandages and underwear. She stripped the bandages off and pulled the leather on. She put the axes in her ears and pinned up her hair.

Afternoon sun was streaming through the windows of her apartment and bathed the man sitting on her couch in gold. Iris blinked; everything seemed too clear, too perfectly warm and golden. Jason turned off the television, turned, and smiled at her. Iris could see the lines of strain on his face.

Something cracked deep inside her, radiating fractures through her entire body. Unable to stop, she started bawling. If he was here, he was dead too.

“I didn’t want you to die! Why did you have to follow me? Why couldn’t you stay where I told you?” It wasn’t fair! She’d done everything she could to keep him safe and he had to go and get himself killed.

Arms circled her and Jason pulled her against his chest, “Calm down; no one’s dead.”

She looked up, “What?”

“You’re not dead.”

Iris wiped the tears and snot off her face. She knew she must be a mess. “How am I not dead?”

“Sit down and eat something. I’ll tell you about it. He said you would be hungry.”

Iris was hungry; she’d been too distracted to pay attention, but her stomach was churning. For the first time, she noticed the apartment was filled with the smell of food.

“Did you cook?”

He smiled, a little sheepishly, “A little bit. I did up a lasagna, some black-bean soup, a broccoli and cheese casserole, and an apple pie.”

Iris sat down on the couch, glad to have something ordinary to talk about, “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“A few things. I hope you don’t mind me using your kitchen.”

“Of course not.” She made a few mental calculations, “I didn’t have enough food in the house for all that.”

“I made a couple trips to the store. He said to let you sleep and that you’d be hungry when you woke up. I didn’t know what else to do.” He opened the fridge and grabbed out a tall plastic cup and handed it to her. “Here, start with this. I hope you like chocolate. My mom’s Italian. So the law in my house was: when in doubt, make food.” He sat on the arm of the couch, “Besides, I had to do something.”

Iris slurped at the contents of the cup, grateful to get something into her stomach. “A milkshake?”

“Sure. It’s high in calories, fat and simple sugars, and goes down easily.” He couldn’t sit still and jumped up again, “Let me heat you up something else. What would you like?”

“Anything. Are you going to tell me what happened? Why am I not dead?”

Jason closed his eyes for a moment, and Iris could see the lines of strain deepen on his face. He seemed to have aged ten years in the last twenty-four hours. She wondered what sort of changes her own features had undergone. He got up and went to the kitchen, coming back with a plateful of food. Iris didn’t press him. He would tell her what happened when he was ready.

“I thought you were dead. You weren’t breathing and I couldn’t find a pulse.” He handed her the plate and sat down. “Everyone was going crazy, the police, fire, everyone. SWAT teams were starting to show up. I wanted to get you out of there. I didn’t want them finding your body. It seemed important.”

Iris nodded, taking a bite, “This is really good. I’ll have to have near-death experiences more often.”

He looked at her, “How can you be so calm?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when you’re done.”

“I had to get you home. I was picking you up when he just, showed up behind me. I never saw him walk up.”

“Who?” Iris had a pretty good idea. Pieces were starting to fall into place.

“Your cousin. Or should I say your not-cousin?”

“No, he’s not my cousin.”

Jason shook his head, but went on, “Anyway, he just showed up and told me to take you home. That he would meet me there. He had to get something for you.” He motioned to a leather bag sitting on the floor, “He left that for you. I don’t know what’s in it. I carried you all the way back here and he was waiting. We cleaned you up and he laid you out. I don’t know what he gave you. I tried to tell him it wouldn’t do any good, but he ignored me.

Iris scraped her plate and handed it to him, “Can I have more?”

He silently got up and refilled the plate.

“What happened then?”

“He leaned in and whispered something in your ear and breathed into your mouth a couple times. You just started breathing again.” He sat back down, “After that it was pretty simple. He wrapped up your ribs and your knee, put some sort of salve on the burns, and told me to let you sleep.”

Iris couldn’t help but smile, “There’s nothing like a deus ex machina. I guess I owe him one. What time is it?”

“After three in the afternoon.”

“What day?”

“Saturday. You’ve been asleep for about fifteen hours.”

“What’s the date?” Iris thought she knew the date, but needed to be sure. She needed to know it was really over.

“It’s the second of November. What’s with the questions?”

She lay back on the couch, feeling as though a weight was gone from her chest. It was over. Thanks to Tyr’s good graces, she was alive. She reached for Jason, pulling him down towards her, letting herself get lost in his touch and the golden sunshine.

* * *

Jason propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her, “This doesn’t mean you get out of telling me what’s been happening.”

Iris stretched in the fading daylight, “I never thought that.” She lay back down in the curve of his arm, “It all started the Friday before we met. I was working late.” She told him everything. He said nothing, but Iris could see the changes in his expression as he listened.

She finished her story and lay back, but her mind was racing. He knew she wasn’t lying, but what man would want to be with a woman as screwed up as she was? She didn’t say anything else, letting him digest the information.

After a few minutes he spoke, “So, it’s all over now, right?”

Iris nodded, “Yes. After Samhain everything should have gone back to normal.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

Iris thought for a minute. She though she knew what she wanted; a little house in the middle of nowhere. The thought that Jason wouldn’t be sharing it with her put a knot in her stomach. “I’m not sure. You’re being pretty calm about all this.”

“I suspected something was different about you from the start. Last night filled in a lot of the blanks.”

“So,” Iris knew the insecurity was audible, “what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure. Having a beer sounds like a good place to start.”

“You’re not going to run screaming for the door?”

He caressed her shoulder and neck, “Why would I do a stupid thing like that?”

She sat up, “Come with me.” She got up and threw on a robe and stuck the axes in her ears, not bothering to put her armor back on. Jason followed her out to the living room.

“What’s up?”

“I have to show you something. Did you bring back that box I gave you?”

“Yeah, it’s over here.” He picked it up off the floor, next to the leather bag Tyr had left.

“Did you open it?”

“Of course not.”

“Boy Scout,” she smiled at him and cut through the tape with one axe. Iris pulled out the three smaller boxes, cut them open, and stuck the axe back on her ear. The rubies flowed out onto the table like molten rock. Jason’s jaw dropped.

“What? How?” He pulled himself together, “Where did you get these?”

“The rubies came from the sӓchlichstein. The original monster that brought you here. They were its eyes. The other stones came from the stomachs of those dragons at the party last week.”

“Do you have any idea what those are worth?”

She picked a ruby up and rolled it around her hands, “I have an idea.” She looked around the apartment. There were quite a few trophies. “Let’s see what’s in the bag.” Iris set the stone aside and grabbed the bag, trying to avoid Jason’s eyes. She rooted around in the leather and pulled out a familiar object. Tyr had replaced the broken handle of the hammer with a short length of wood.

“He said he knew how you liked your trophies.” She smiled at him and set the hammer aside then dumped the remainder of the bag’s contents on the table.

“Jesus, Iris!”

The uncut stones glittered dully in the last of the light. They varied in size and color. Some were as small as the end of her thumb; others were as big as her fist. Some were transparent; others were in shades of blue and green.

Jason picked up the largest, “I have never seen a raw emerald this big. Do you know what this is worth? Where did they come from?”

“Inside that dragon, probably. If the big ones are like the small ones, anyway.” She idly picked one up. It was nice of Tyr to remember her. She hadn’t been in any condition to be thinking of trophies last night.

“What are you going to do with all this?”

“I’m going to buy a house.” She looked at him. There, she’d said it; it was out in the open. “I’m going to buy a house in the middle of nowhere, where there aren’t any car alarms.”

“Are you going to buy back your grandparents’ property?”

Iris shook her head, “No. It’s a subdivision now. I’ll go somewhere else.” She wondered if he could see the question in her eyes. If she was going somewhere else, where would he be?

Jason set the stone back on the table and turned to her, “I happen to know of this little cabin in the woods in Colorado. It’s on about a hundred acres.”

Iris frowned, “Your hunting property? I told you what happened the last time a man wanted me to move cross-country with him.”

“I think the situation is a little different. Besides, I can’t kick you out. You’ve got magic axes. You could take my head off.” He laughed, but Iris didn’t like where his thoughts were.

“Does that bother you? I mean, what guy wants to be with a woman like that?”

“This guy does. I would have to be the biggest moron in the universe to give up a goddess in my bed.” He paused, “Although, the cabin isn’t exactly set up for full-time living. It’s well insulated and has a good stove, but no electricity and no plumbing. If you wanted to live out there all the time you’d have to make some improvements.” He took both her hands, “I don’t want to lose you. Will you at least think about it?”

She opened her mouth to answer when Iris realized Jason wasn’t moving, not even breathing. She looked around and saw the clock had stopped and the dust motes were frozen in mid-air. Pulling her hands free, Iris stood up and turned around.

“That’s really weird, when you do that.”

Thor shrugged, “That sounds like a personal problem.”

“What, no congratulations? I did survive.”

“Only because my baby brother took pity on you.”

Iris sighed; she wasn’t afraid of Thor anymore, but she didn’t want to pick a fight with him, either, “Where is Tyr?”

“Waiting for you in Valhalla. He sent me to collect you.”

“Right now?” She was a little busy trying to think her way through a life-changing decision.

“Right now. My team’s downstairs.”

She sighed, but was secretly relieved at having more time to think over what Jason was asking. “Give me a minute to get dressed.”

For web page problems, broken links etc. please contact admin@trulymusing.com. Thank you.

Wealthy Affiliate Will Not Make You Rich
We will Teach you how to Make Yourself Rich.