Chapter 10

Kol wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and stepped back to admire the fruits of his labor. There, carefully placed on the ground, were four hand-carved stones at an equal distance from each other. Together, they formed a square big enough for two grown men. It had taken him a lot of time to build several of these in the forest, but he was rather proud of the result.

"I still do not understand why I am here, Kol," Henrik said for the millionth time in two weeks. Sat against a tree a few feet behind him, his little brother was looking at the stones, bewildered. Usually, Kol would have simply smiled, ruffled his hair a bit before explaining it as simply as possible. Here though, Henrik's life was at stake and all he could feel was a sense of urgency and dread. His family had obviously noticed his mad mood but had left him alone so far.

"I already told you Henrik," he replied with a frown, "this is a protective barrier. Invisible for all but your and mine eyes. I, because I am the one who casted the spell, and you because you were there when I have done it." Doing so had been difficult, but not as hard as creating the spell to find Nora, no matter the circumstances. "It is important for you to memorize the location of each barrier. If you ever feel in danger, no matter why, you run until ma magic protects you. It will withstand even the beats. Understood?"

"I know that," the youngest of the family sighed, "but why? I can always run to the village for you to protect me."

He sat down cross-legged in front of Henrik and grabbed the smaller hand. "I might not always be there Henrik. If I am not with you, these barriers are the more secure places."

"Alright," Henrik nodded, "but only because it is you and you are always right."

For the first time in days, Kol snickered. "One more reason to actually listen to me, isn't it?" He waited for a few seconds before adding, "could you make me another promise? It is very, very important."

"Yes?"

"Promise me to never, ever, under no circumstances, leave the caves on the full moon if I am not by your sides."

Henrik broke into a wide open smile. "Just that? Tsss, easiest promise in the world then!"

Kol smiled back at him, although his was strained. Easiest promise? He hoped so. He truly did. "Now, do you want to see some magic?"

"Not one of your barriers again, please," Henrik groaned.

"Not at all."

With that said, he drew the boy into him and tickled him. Laughter filled the forest and the birds in the surrounding trees flew away at the sudden bursts of voices. He would do anything to protect this laugh for as long as possible. If he had to defy Nature itself, Time or even the Universe to protect the light in Henrik's eyes, then so be it.

XXX

He waited for his siblings and his parents to be asleep to drag his exhausted body out of the house. On that new moon night, only the stars illuminated the sky and their light wasn't enough to light the way. Not that he needed it. By now, he knew what stones could hinder his walk, where to turn and lower his head to avoid branches. In his hands were the objects he would need for the spell he had in mind.

Finding - creating, really - a spell to always find Nora had been difficult - and that was quite the understatement. In his whole life, he had never casted such a complex spell and already he could feel his blood rushing in his veins, swirling and boiling inside him, at the mere idea to put it into practice. It wouldn't be easy, far from it. He would need to use all of his magic to create a link between Nora and him, a link even Time wouldn't be able to break.

In a normal case, he would have simply used a locator spell. That kind of magic was easy. You only needed to possess something from the people you wanted to find. It could be an old trinket, a strand of hair, or even blood. Here though, he didn't only need to know where to find Nora, but also when to find her. He had no desire to use a locator spell every morning in the hope that it would one day work. It would be a waste of time and energy.

He moved a bit to his left to avoid a fallen branch and reached Nora's camp a few minutes later. His magic welcomed him immediately and crossing the barrier reinvigorated him more than the few hours of sleep he managed to get.

"Kol!" Nora greeted him, her lips tilted upwards in a warm smile though he could see the concern in her eyes. She looked over him, taking in his features before she seemed to reach a conclusion and came to free his hands. "Is that?" she asked him while staring curiously at the small wooden bowl in her hands.

"Yes, it is exactly what you are thinking about."

"A toad?" she replied wittily, one brow elegantly raised.

Without thinking, he went to brush a strand of hair off her face, a fond smile curving his mouth and his eyes twinkling with amusement. "No, that, I still have to find one. When it is done, I will retrieve a few drops of spit from the toad and you will need to drink it."

"What the fucking hell?!" she cried out, disgusted. "No fucking way! I adore you, you're the love of my life and everything, but I can't! I won't! There're limits to what I'll do for you! I sure as hell won't do that!'

"Even for my future happiness?" he said in a small voice, sounding sad and dejected, his free hand stroking softly the skin beneath his fingers. Inwardly though, he truly wondered how one person could be so gullible. Seriously, the spit of a toad? What kind of spell would need that? One to make people puke to the morrow, maybe?

"I -" she stammered, "That's… I mean, it's… isn't there any other ways?" He shook his head. "Really?... I…"

He smirked and leaned over. "Just kidding Darling."

"What?" she stared at him. Then, when his lips remained twisted into a smirk, she squinted. "I hate you."

"No you don't."

"I do. Truly."

"Nah, you don't. Now, come on, we've got work to do."

They both sat cross-legged in front of each other, their knees the only part of them touching. Around them, Kol let his power set alight the space to form a fire circle. As much for the ritual as because it was cold as hell.

Nora didn't take her eyes off him for one second when he put the wooden bowl between them and grabbed a sharp knife. Only the crackling of the flames could be heard and he found himself reluctant to speak and break the peace.

"Give me your hand and clench your teeth," he murmured, "it might sting a bit."

Of course, she knew the ritual by heart by now as he had explained it to her several times over the last few days. Still, she startled when he took her hand, palm facing the night sky. Carefully, he cut the skin perpendicular to the lines already crossing her hand. The sharp hiss of pain slipping out of her mouth through her clenched teeth was the only sign of pain she let out.

"That's my girl," he said proudly, grinning, before turning her hand towards the knees so the blood would trickle into the bowl.

Once it was filled enough, he gave her the knife without taking care of her wound, blood still flowing out from it. Her grip on it was firm and she didn't hesitate to slice his skin. And he flinched. He fucking flinched and seing the wry smile on her lips, she totally noticed.

"And that's my boy, isn't it hon?" she teased him while his blood was filling the bowl.

They linked their bloody hands together, and it felt as if the fire inside Nora was trying to seep through his wound and lick his whole being. He felt alive, and alight. Still, he couldn't afford to be distracted for the next part of the ritual.

His free hand stirred the red liquid before raising the bowl to his lips so that he could take a sip of their mixed bloods. The metallic taste immediately filled his mouth as the thick liquid flowed through his throat. There was a weird, but sadly not unfamiliar, feeling inside his stomach, as if it was turning on itself, or trying to climb up all the way to his mouth. What a sight it would be, him hurling all over Nora. Somehow, he doubted it would end well, for him, should such a thing happen. She would never let him forget. Ever.

He managed to control his gag reflex and hide his disgust, unlike Nora.

"I have known better," she muttered before breathing in deeply and putting the bowl down.

"Never said blood was tasty." Disgusting was a better word. Especially in such quantity.

"Right," she replied, a strange expression on her face. He didn't question her though and took the bowl of water by his sides. While the action in itself should have been easy enough, he had to do a few contortions to not let go of Nora's hand.

"Water," he said with a clear and strong voice, and the clear liquid sprang out of the bowl. Soon, thousands of water drops were floating in the air, all around them.

"Air." They began to swirl, faster and faster.

"Earth." Grains of dust raised from the ground and joined the water.

Already, the space was soaked in magic. It reverberated inside him as drum beats. He could feel the movement of each particles in every part of his being and the shaking hand of Nora told him that she felt it too.

"Fire," he finally said, and the flames shone brighter than ever. They reached for the sky and swirled with the other elements. Slowly, water, air, earth and fire merged together and became a thick golden thread. It then came to them and wrapped around their joined hands.

Nora's eyes met his, and it was as if their hearts was beating together as one.

"Your blood is my blood."

"Your blood is my blood," she said after him.

The golden thread heated up, burning their skins. His magic and Nora's weird one were dancing together.

"Your fate is my fate."

Once again she repeated his words.

"Your soul is my soul."

"…" Her breathing became shallow and irregular, almost shaking. He squeezed her hand. "Your soul… is my soul."

The thread disappeared under their skin. There was a brief light before their mixed blood seeped into their wound. Eventually, nothing was left. No golden thread, no light, no blood and no wound.

He opened his eyes - and when did he even close them? - and for the first time since he took his first breath all those years ago, Kol felt complete. Truly complete. He could feel Nora as if she was a part of him, and he knew, he knew, that he would always find her, no matter where and when she was.

"How?" she said, breathlessly and astonished, "how can I feel you too?"

His whole face spread into a soft smile. He didn't want to let her hand go and, so, he didn't. "Because we are bonded together as one."

"But… I have never felt you before, and yet you have always found me."

He nodded and before the thought even crossed his mind, he was already kissing their joined hand. "Maybe because, even though you weren't, I was already bonded to your soul."

Something had changed. And he didn't care. Whatever had changed, it felt good.