Eir's POV
I still can't believe I fell asleep, but I felt drained and tired. Fighting heavy eyelids, a fight I could not win. However, I now felt rested, calm, and collected while looking over at him through my lashes and pretending I was still asleep.
He was not, staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head right next to me in my bed. I could see his green eyes move; his stare was so intense that my curiosity began to rebel inside of me, demanding to know what he was looking at.
"How long will you pretend to sleep? Is it a way of saving even more energy?"
"No, I'm done. What are you looking at?"
Quickly I brushed it away and rolled over on my back to satisfy my curiosity and hide my slight blush.
"Then why do you do it? "
I sighed; why does he always have to ask the weirdest questions? Ask the things most people would not. But I'm beginning to realize I must get used to it, asking the weirdest and cringiest things.
"I don't know; I wasn't ready to open my eyes yet. What are you looking at?"
It wasn't a lie, not really, but what am I supposed to say? That I wanted to study him without him knowing. Aren't people just supposed to know things like this? Focusing on the ceiling, I tried to pretend it didn't affect me, but there was nothing there. Still, when I looked over at him, his eyes moved one way and the other like he was following something that moved around up there.
"Just some old spirits playing around."
He smiled, almost giggled, and I still saw nothing.
"Are you still sure about the rejection?"
"Yes"
"It is not that I don't believe you, but believe me, this is something you should think through. I mean, really think through. "
"I am sure."
"Okay, it is simple, but like I said, it is no way to undo it, and it will hurt."
I took a deep breath and realized how relieved I felt thinking about this. Not even the pain scares me, and I don't see any negative in finally being free from him. I never even knew we were still tied together.
"I want to do it, so just tell me how."
He did, and to be honest, it sounded too easy to be true, really. I had almost expected it to be a ritual or something over a burning fire, some bitter witch brew, or blood. No, only simple words.
"You know his full name and rank?"
"Yes, and... is that all?"
"Yes, just like I said earlier. Take a deep breath, and make sure you are 100% sure, then you say it. "
"I , Elisabeth Greywoods from Earth, reject you, Toke Bloodfur Alpha of the Viking Pack of Errithia."
I held my breath waiting, but nothing happened. After a couple of sirup slow seconds, I looked over at Sebastian. He looked like he felt like me, holding his breath and watching me with caution. But still, nothing. I didn't feel different, didn't feel any pain, nothing.
"It didn't work?"
"Maybe try using the name you have here? Eir and your family name. "
"Yeah..."
Too embarrassed, I remembered I didn't even know my family name. I didn't know what Tew's last name was.
"The Barbarian Alpha's family name is Moonscar. "
With a quick and grateful sigh, I tried again,
"I, Eir Moonscar, from Earth, reject you, Toke Bloodfur Alpha of the Viking Pack of Errithia."
Still nothing, not even a little breeze swishing by or an anxious feeling in my stomach. Nothing at all. I tried it all, Elisabeth Moonscar, Eir the Earth girl, Eir from Earth, Earth human Eir Moonscar and all that, every single combination I could think of, but nothing happened. There was no pain, no changes, nothing at all, and finally, frustration took over, and I threw myself back on the bed with a dramatic huff.
"I think you need to be with him."
"What?"
"No, like.. I think you need to say the rejection to him directly. I don't know all about this rejection thing, especially not before other species. But the times I've seen it or heard about it, the mates are close to each other. I just figured it was the Moon goddess that accepted the rejections. Dragons don't have mates the same way, and therefore no rejection rituals."
"Oh... So, what do I do now?"
I didn't want him to hear how disappointed I was, but it was hard holding it back. Toke is not here; I am still unsure what I am or why I'm still here.
"We eat, and then we find him."
I perked up, filled with surprise and excitement.
"Really?"
"Yes? I hate traveling on an empty stomach. I know where the barbarian pack and rogue pack lives; we start with those. I am sure someone there knows where he is."
That is what we did, eat breakfast kings worthy while he talked about the castle, how it once belonged to a little-known goddess that ruled over the unknown between realms. A lonely woman that grew sick of the secluded location, the hidden lifestyle and gifted it away to his great-great-grandfather. Then she just disappeared, and the dragons moved from the caves beneath the ground to a castle above the skies. Placed between Errithia and the endless sky, below but by the side of the old Norse gods, Asgard.
I ate without tasting, drank without noticing my thirst fading, and just listened. I pictured it all as a Marvell movie combined with mythology and old stories told beside a sizzling fireplace while the darkness around provided mystery and magic. I swallowed every word he said like I swallowed my food, even if it was just simply him telling me about his home; for me, it felt like a story or fairy tale. I could picture the incredibly gorgeous woman, alone and bored. Depressed and slowly balancing towards the edge of her own sanity, I could even feel for her and found myself hoping she found what she was looking for at the end of it all. I made up my own story where she lived out her days in a beautiful cottage surrounded by animals, beautiful flowers, lovers, and good friends.
Torn out of my imagination fairy tale, the breakfast was suddenly over, and we headed to the massive hall where I first arrived here with Loki. I looked out the windows as we passed, clouds and sun, and stretched my neck to peak through the cracks for each slightly opened door we passed. But I saw nothing that resembled a way down, an airplane, incredible long stairs. So when we finally arrived in the hall lit up by the blazing sunlight through the massive windows, I found myself watching him instead.
"Can you do magic too?"
He raised a brow when he spun around to look at me,
"Magic? Like, making stuff disappear, rocks fly, and making flowers sing? No, I can't say that is one of my skill sets or hobbies."
He laughed, but he quickly stopped when he saw my face. I guess my confusion was evident.
"No, I can't do magic. What made you think that?"
"I mean, I was thinking like Loki did, getting us here."
"Oh, no... He doesn't do magic; it is more like Godly powers that he likes to misuse, of course, but no. It is not magic, and no, I don't do magic or have powers like that. "
"Then, how do we get down?"
"OH! That is simple; we fly!"
"Okay, where the hell do you have stashed away a plane or helicopter up here? Are the clouds solid? Like, can we walk on them?"
"Of course they are; I mean, how would the castle stay up if they were not? Come, we are heading to the roof, and ill show you how we fly!"
He reached a hand out towards me but, with a beaming smile, did not hide the mischief in his eyes. With small butterflies erupting in my stomach, I decided to jump right into it, grab his hand and see what he was up to. We ran to the end of the room, and a little door I didn't notice the last time flung open. We ran up the stairs like foolish teenagers, giggling between huffing and puffing as the stairs spiraled up and seemed to last forever.
When we finally almost fell through a door at the top, my face was red, and my entire body was filled to the brim with excitement and adrenaline. The view was incredible, and the roof was flat and massive. If he wanted, he could have had at least 10-15 choppers up here, but there was nothing. No weird-looking flying devices, airplanes, helicopters, to be honest, besides us and the view, there was nothing here!
"So, are you Peter Pan or wh..."
I turned and stopped mid-sentence when our eyes locked.
He smiled, and the mischievous look was now spreading out on his entire body when he let his pants fall.
"What the... What are you doing!?"
Spinning around and turning my back to him, I almost shouted in shock at him, but all I got in response was laughter that only worked to fuel the growing blush on my cheeks while I started to wonder if he really had all the screws, he needed to make his head function right.
"Oh, come one! Look! I will show you your ride!"