Elsewhere: Aesir

Journey...Beyond?

After I finish my warning to Cameron he disappears. Not that that wasn't expected though. I release my force magic and will my heart rate down but...something's wrong.

My shift starts to progress and my vision starts to get blurry, and then...the fever.

I feel my fangs protruding further and fur starting to prickle my skin. I feel the primal rage that accompanies a full shift along with my bones shifting. They're going to start breaking soon. But none of this makes sense!

I've shifted plenty in the past year of training with and without magic and I have full control...but I guess not.

My reason is slipping as I hear the citizens of Aesir cheering and celebrating, but I HAVE to get away now.

I take off to the forest past the corpses of the vampires much faster than I have before even with the use of magic. I can't concentrate to avoid obstacles, so I instinctively drop to all fours in a flash of black, blue and...white?

That color has never appeared on me before and I feel bigger in wolf form too. Luckily before I fully shift I make it to the forest. I'm barely conscious now but I have to keep going, I have to continue. I didn't just kill 30 vampires and mortally wound an Alpha to hurt the very people I was protecting.

With the last of my will, I'm able to reach far enough into the forest that no one sane would end up in my path, and I tear down a tree in an attempt to release some of the anger, some of the rage. But it's not enough and everything fades to black.

__________________________________________

Then I'm myself again, but I have no idea where I am! I'm in a field that's more than beautiful, it's magical. The sky is alternating between purple, red, orange, white, and yellow. It's like the sky is one big rainbow.

Two women appear in front of me, one with dark hair like that of a raven and the other the color of snow. Like the white that appeared in my fur before I blacked out.

I've never dreamt during a shift before, but then again it's been a while since I've lost my reason in one too. I greet the women:

"Hello, um dream women? Are you projections of my subconscious?? I've never dreamt during a shift before, so I have no idea what this is!"

The woman with the raven hair responds first.

"This is no dream, and though a projection is technically correct. The only thing that is yours here is you."

The woman with white hair...growls?? But softly

"Yes, yes I know." The woman with black hair responds.

"I'm sooo confused right now." I murmur.

"Yes, I know that too." The black-haired woman responds.

"It is time for us to meet, past time truthfully. It usually doesn't take this long for a wolf to taste first blood. But given the circumstances, I am both pleasantly and disdainfully surprised."

"Well I know other wolves that have killed before and none of them have said anything like this happened...and why isn't she talking??" I reply while motioning towards the woman with white hair.

The black-haired woman sighs.

"My name is Bestla, do you know who I am or what that means?"

As she says her name something in me shifts, I'm not sure why but it feels...familiar.

"I'm not sure, but hearing that feels...right." I respond.

"As expected, have you not wondered why you are a shifter that can use magic to control your shift? Or even what you are to begin with?"

"Well my mom was a witch and my dad was a shifter, so I'm pretty sure thats why." I laugh.

"Oh, you do? Tell me, have you ever met someone ELSE from a mixed bloodline that was able to successfully combine their abilities like that?"

I had to think about that, can the circumstances of birth be that important? I remember Cameron's words with annoyance.

But it's true I've never met another shifter that was able to use magic to stall their transformation to maximize the potential of the wolf in human form. I just always thought it was because they hadn't thought of it.

Every other wolf IF they can use magic, can only use magic in their human or two-legged forms. Even regular werewolves can't use magic in their half state.

"I guess I haven't." I respond after my consideration.

"You carry the spirit of Odin, the sky father from your mother's side. Your father's bloodline irritatingly enough is of a line of the earth. The very same type of creature that murdered my son in cold blood.

You are both the murdered and the murderer. The god and the beast, magic and instinct. Your will is much more powerful than you realize. Unfortunately much like your soul is now, your body is caught between that instinct and magic because you haven't fully mastered either.

Because of your heritage, your mind can handle the power that results from that union. Your body however doesn't appear to be of the same strength."

"Wait...WHAT?!?! What are you telling me right now?!??! I'm descended from a ruling god?!? Am...I...am I royalty?!?!"

I completely fail to hide my excitement at the thought that maybe ancestrally I AM worthy of Jess.

"Yes and no. You aren't in the sense you are thinking. You aren't royalty as much as you ARE royalty. Your soul is that of a king of the gods even if it shares space with the soul of the wolf. The wolf is a king also so I guess that's better than something else. Alas, my grudge will remain. Your blood, your soul, your power transcends any king of mortals.

However, without proper cultivation of both, you will surely die."

"What?!?! How do I prevent that?!?! You're telling me that I'm going to die because I exist?!?!"

"No!" Bestla responds. "You will die, because of HOW you've been existing. You have dominion boy. Act like it, you are not the wolf. You rule the wolf, you are not the magic, you rule the magic. Odin was associated with both.

It is not bad to claim your power and rule. For some who utilize the power of magic or the wolf, they must surrender themselves to it. Find themselves in it. But you've never had that issue, nor is that where you or your power reside. The surrender you must give is different. You must surrender to who you are instead of submitting to who you are not.

The spirits, the elements, the wolf, magic, you must rule not out of selfishness or greed. But rule because it is who you are. As they know and wish you to be. You are not all-powerful, but you are powerful enough to be who you are."