Elsewhere: Aesir

Return..

At those last words, the scenery shifts back to the forest.

"A ruler...powerful enough to be me, huh?" I whisper to myself.

I completely decimated the surrounding area while I was...in that place. I forgot to ask what that place was to begin with, but I have much deeper things on my mind.

I am not the wolf, I rule the wolf. I am not the magic, I rule the magic. What does that even mean?? Maybe what I'm struggling with is...what does it mean to rule?

I hear Jess approaching in the distance. I can tell by the rhythm of her footsteps, her heartbeat, and her scent. My wolf senses come in handy A LOT, I wish I could see her now though.

My heart is in turmoil, I don't know what to think or believe right now about myself, but as soon as I think that thought, it's not just hearing and scent...I CAN see her and I'm not even looking at her or in her direction.

Is this what Bestla meant about ruling magic?

I turn and suddenly realize I'm naked, it was an unplanned shift after all. I guess Jess was scrying, because she's also carrying clothes.

But...I'm naked! She's never seen me naked! But I guess if she was scrying she probably has now. Definitely not how I wanted that to happen. I let out a defeated sigh and turn around as she arrives.

"Are you okay?" She asks worriedly.

"Yes and...no." I admit.

"What happened?" She asks.

"I think I lost control of my shift because I killed for the first time. At least...that's what I was told."

"Told by who??" She asks as she moves closer.

I clear my throat.

"Um, can I have the clothes...please? I whisper embarrassed."

She blushes as she hands me the clothes which I can see even though I haven't turned around.

"When I shifted, after I arrived here I lost consciousness and woke up somewhere. I'm not sure where, but I met two women one with black hair and one with white." I continue as I put on the clothes.

"The woman with black hair said that I have the soul of Odin and that the shift happened because I wasn't being true to myself or my power. She said that I need to rule the wolf and rule the magic. Because I'm supposed to and they want me to." I say as I finish dressing and turn to her.

"Mmmm, yeah I can see that." She says not seeming surprised.

"You can??" I question.

"Of course. The way you've quickly progressed in magic and combat. It's always felt like you could do even more, but you've been holding yourself back."

I go through my life since I've been here in my head, replaying those situations. She isn't wrong. Cameron was a first lieutenant before he left and he's clearly stronger than that now. I bested him after only training for a year. That's not only phenomenal, it's unheard of.

"It's my turn to ask you a question." I say lost in my thoughts.

"Yes?" she says more relaxed and steps closer to embrace me.

"What does it mean to rule?"