Chapter 12 - Take

Cain:

Even after spending a pleasurable evening in Lilith’s arms, I don’t sleep much. I don’t know if it’s because I feel guilty that I haven’t fully revealed the Divinity Pantheon’s intentions or if it’s because I haven’t disclosed who I really am to her.

My chest aches at the prospect of her discovering the truth.

Though I know that there’s nothing more that can happen between Lilith and me, a part of me can’t help but want more. I want to take her over and over again until her essence is imprinted in my soul. The thought of losing Lilith and never touching her again makes my heart squeeze painfully.

The more that I get to know her, the more perplexed I feel. It’s not like I haven’t been in love before. I know what love is. I loved my wife dearly. But with Lilith, I feel this bevy of emotions that I can’t even name. And some of these emotions are so intense that I’m afraid to delve too deep into them.

Even if it pains me, I have to create some distance between us before it’s too late.

Once the sun breaks on the horizon, I rise from the mat, use my magic to cleanse myself and slip into a fresh pair of clothes. Lilith continues to sleep through this, her raven hair spread around her naked chest and the sheet laying carelessly around the curve of her hips.

I have to stop myself from slipping back into her arms when I see one of her delicious little nipples peeking out of her hair. Having lived for thousands of years, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt, with her curvy frame, sensual eyes, luscious pink lips and long raven hair, Lilith is a stunning woman.

As if she can sense my gaze, Lilith stirs. Her brow furrows, and her eyes blink open until they focus on me. The sheet slips further down until she’s completely uncovered. “Everything alright, Cain?” she asks.

I nod. “Yes, I am fine. But we should get ready to go to the waterfall. I’ll give you time to refresh yourself,” I stonily reply before I walk out of the tent.

Within minutes, Lilith appears beside me, looking refreshed in a long-sleeved flannel top, a white t-shirt, dark cargo shorts and hiking boots. One of the upsides of having powers is that we can use our magic to cleanse ourselves. We only bathe for pleasurable purposes.

As we did the day before, we hike up the rocky path, traverse through a wooden hanging bridge above a beautiful clear river surrounded by forested cliffs. The waterfall is a stunning sight as it cascades down a lush, green mountain surrounded by a picturesque blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Lilith and I walk through the valley until we reach the basin of the waterfall. The bottom of the fall is filled with rocks and boulders, making it a difficult task to walk through. As soon as we get close to the mouth of the falls, an electric shock shoots through me.

“Did you feel that?” Lilith raises her arm and touches the skin with confusion. “I feel like I touched a livewire.”

I nod, feeling the energy getting stronger the closer we get to the edge. Lilith takes my hand and stumbles a couple of times. Her face pales, and her body sways. Just as I’m going to ask her what is wrong, a feeling of fatigue rushes through me. As soon as the feeling came, it disappears.

“What the bloody hell is happening?” Lilith breathes deeply as she straightens her stance.

I look down at my body, not seeing anything unusual. However, something inside of me feels different. I feel weak and achy.

A suspicion settles inside of me as I step back and try to flash to the other side of the falls. However, nothing happens.

“Can you use any of your abilities?” I ask Lilith.

Lilith frowns but doesn’t argue. I observe as she closes her eyes and tries to do something, but by her grim expression, I can see that it’s not working. “I can’t do a bloody thing,” she mutters with alarm.

As careful as I can, I walk toward the boundaries of the spring and try again, but nothing happens. Lilith follows me and continues walking until we’re at least a half-mile from the spring, but our powers do not resurface.

I look back and appraise the falls in the distance. “It’s there. Hod’s temple is there. It’s the only thing that explains the loss of our powers.”

Lilith looks down at her hands with alarm, “Did we lose them for good?”

I shake my head, “I don’t know. Let’s keep walking and see if anything happens.”

As we continue to walk. Within miles, my strength returns, “I can feel my powers returning,” I flash behind her, then flash in front of her, “It looks like it’s temporary.”

Lilith does the same and sighs with relief, “Are you telling me that we will have no choice but to go into the temple powerless?”

I nod, “That’s what it looks like. Frigg must have placed a spell to dampen any magic in the temple, which must have spread across the valley.”

Her brow furrows with worry, “Why do I get an ominous feeling that the temple is going to present a challenge for us?”

I think about the possibilities. “It’s possible that the temple is riddled with dangerous traps.”

Lilith exhales deeply and snaps out with frustration, “Well, that’s just going to make this even more awful.”

“It will, but we have no choice if we want to get the arrow.”

I produce a sword and scabbard around my shoulders, along with a rope and hiking gear and observes as Lilith does the same. “Be careful and stay close,” she mutters before she walks back to the falls.

As soon as we reach the falls’ opening, our powers recede. Lilith looks at me, “Do you think the opening is inside?”

I look around the area, “If the opening was inside the mouth, wouldn’t the humans have found it?”

Lilith waves her hand inside the opening and flinches back.

“What is it?” I ask.

She looks at her hand, then back at the opening, “It felt like I had put my hand through a thick substance. What if the opening is there, but the humans couldn’t see or feel it? The hikers didn’t report anything odd about the falls.”

I mirror Lilith’s movements and quickly realize what she’s talking about. I feel like I dipped my hand in honey.

Lilith stops beside me and mutters, “Perhaps we can feel it because we’re not human. Frigg might have spelled it to be inaccessible by humans. But since we’re supernatural, we’re able to enter it.”

Taking the rope, I tie it around my wrist and hand the other end to Lilith. “I’m going into it. Don’t let go of the rope unless you absolutely need to.”

“Are you out of your sodding mind? What if something happens to you?” she cries out.

I shake my head, “That’s why I need you to stay here. Just do as I say, Lilith!”

Before she can answer, I stride forward and walk through the opening. The feeling of weightlessness spreads across my body for a moment before it disappears.

To my surprise, I find myself inside a dark cavern surrounded by thousands of stone steps and entrances carved into the walls. Taking a step, I look down at the cavernous opening and toss a rock. I don’t hear the rock hit the ground, which signifies that the fall is quite steep. Turning back to the entrance, I step back out and face Lilith.

“Did you find anything?” she asks.

I nod, “I think the feeling we get when we put our hands through it is the spell surrounding the temple. Once I walked through it, I entered a large cavern with wall-to-wall stairs.”

Lilith gazes around with confusion before she reaches for the book. She sorts through a couple of pages until she reaches what she’s searching for. “Here…look…” she turns the book to me, “You see this picture?”

I gaze down at the illustration. The map shows curves carved on what looks like a wall.

“Don’t you see?” she states excitedly, “This is not as much a map as it is a series of clues,” she runs her finger across the page, “Each section must indicate how we can navigate through the temple. It’s basically a diagram.”

“Let’s go then,” I state firmly.

Lilith follows me through the entrance and gasps as soon as she passes through the other side.

She looks down at the ancient illustration. “It looks like we have to go down those steps,” she points to a row of steps on the other side of the cavern.

I look around the funnel-shaped cavern’s damp walls and try to find a way to safely get to the stairs. Lilith squats down the dark cavern and points at something below, “There’s a wide ledge there,” she pulls out a torch and aims it around the rim, “It seems to lead to the steps. If we’re careful, we should be able to make it.”

I follow the light of her torch and gauge the possibilities. “Now that we’re basically powerless, I want you to be very careful, luv. Keep a steady pace, and don’t look down.” I loop the rope beneath her arms like a harness and do the same before taking out several climbing pitons to wedge inside the crevices.

As carefully as I can, I slide down to the ledge and help Lilith down. Thankfully, my strength is still formidable, and the pitons slide inside of the wall without issue. It takes some effort, but we manage to make it to the steps without incident. Descending is not as easy, but somehow we make it to the entrance on the diagram.

This room is puzzling because it leads to a large, narrow stone bridge. Once again, the bridge has no rails, and there’s a steep drop below it.

“I feel like I’m in an adventure film,” Lilith mutters, “I’m just waiting for a large boulder to roll down from one of these openings and crush me.”

I nod, “It is somewhat cliched, isn’t it?”

Lilith looks at the diagram again, “Is this a compass?”

I look at the diagram and see the Norse signs for north, south, east and west. Lilith traces it with her finger and glances back at the openings, “It shows that we have to take the south opening, but that’s impossible because the bridge does not lead in that direction.”

I gaze above the openings and notice that there are markings above the entrances, “Those look like Norse writings. far til alle, mørkens far, moderskapets gudinne,”

“What does that mean?” She asks.

“I believe those say, Father of all, Father of darkness and Goddess of motherhood.”

Her brow furrows, “Hod is the father of darkness.”

I nod, “That has to be the entrance. But how do we get there,”

Taking her torch, I aim it around the bridge and stop when I see that there’s a column standing beneath the middle of the bridge. Taking a chance, I squat down and press my palm against the base of the bridge. The bridge shifts. “It moves.”

Lilith takes the narrow end of the bridge and pushes it. The bridge begins to rotate until it’s facing another entrance. “We’ll have to stand on it and push it until it reaches the entryway.”

I clench my jaw tightly and carefully step over the narrow bridge, nearly falling over when it moves again. My heart beats wildly inside of my chest, and my throat dries when I gaze down the vast darkness below us. Lilith carefully slides forward, her arms out for balance. Several curses escape her lips as we continue to move until we reach the other end.“Can you push it without falling over?” she asks, her voice tight with fear.

I nod, “Yes, just stay where you are.”

As cautiously as I can, I extend my sword and use it as a hook to move the bridge until we reach the opening.

I’m about to step through the opening when Lilith cries out. Horror spikes through me when I see her lose her balance and tip over. I don’t think when I throw myself flat on the bridge and reach for her. Before she goes over the edge, I manage to grip her wrist and sigh, relieved when I see that the harness is holding strong. “Hold on, luv. Don’t let go!” I call out as I craw back into the entrance and drag her with me. Once I reach the safety of the opening, I swing her up and enfold her in my arms, “Are you alright?”

Her chest heaves with her panicked breathing as she grips me tightly, “I’m fine. You saved me.”

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I grip her tightly and kiss the top of her head.

“That was not fun,” she mutters anxiously.

I help her up from her perch and brush her ashen cheek before I turn to the door. “Ready?”

She nods. “Let’s go.”

As we crawl into the narrow space, we enter a large chamber with Nordic statues standing guard against the walls, a large stone altar with two large fountains next to it and torches aligning the dark, damp rocky walls. A large statue of a god in full armor holding an arrow in front of his chest stands behind the altar.

“That must be the god Hod,” Lilith points to the statue.

I look at the statue and inspect the arrow in his hands. The arrow glows crimson, “and that’s the arrow.”

Taking a step forward, I glance around the chamber. Before I can take another step, Lilith wraps her hand around my wrist, “What if it’s a trap?”

I look down at her hand, then back at her, “It’s possible, but what choice do we have?”

Her gaze roams the chamber before she reluctantly lets me go, “Just be careful,”

I don’t reply as I take a couple of cautious steps. It’s not until I’m halfway through the chamber that I hear a loud click. Eyes wide, I look around warily when the click is followed by the sounds of gears turning.

“Something is happening,” Lilith mutters beside me.

Just as I’m going to ask, Lilith wraps her arms around me and pushes us out of the way. “Look out!” she calls out.

We roll on the ground and flinch when the sound of something heavy hitting the ground near us echoes across the room.

I look behind Lilith’s shoulder and see that one of the statues is standing where we were. “What the fuck?” I growl.

Lilith rolls off me and glances back, “The statues are moving.”

We rise from our perch quickly as each statue moves from its position and rushes toward us. “Run!” I grip Lilith’s wrist and run to the opening. However, before we can, a giant stone sword slices in front of us and blocks our way.

Lilith and I remove our weapons and face off against the four statues. The stones statues are at least ten feet tall with veneers the color of night and fiery eyes that look like the wick of a lit candle. Based on their Nordic armor, I’d say they are the protectors of the temple. Once aims at my chest, but I roll away. Lilith does the same when another statue tries to strike her down.

I try to stab the statue but do little harm considering that it’s made of stone.

Lilith seems to be having the same issue, “Throw me the rope!” I throw her a rope and watch as she rushes through the statue’s legs and wraps a rope around its ankles before she throws me the other end and calls out, “Wrap it around its ankles. If we can’t kill them, we can bring them down!”

I do as she says as I dodge the statue’s strike. When the statues move to attack, their legs get tangled, and they stumble upon each other, falling to the ground. The other two move forward, but Lilith and I rush past their bulky frames and zig-zag around them until they stumble over their own feet and fall on top of the others.

“Get the arrow!” I call out, “I’ll keep them distracted!”

Lilith rushes to the statue and climbs upon it, her body skidding and stumbling until she reaches the top of Hod’s arm. She places her hands around the arrow but can’t seem to make it budge.

“The bloody thing won’t move!” she calls out.

I dodge one of the statues when it swats at me and weaves out of the way when another turns and tries to grab my legs. Glancing up, I see stone pikes hanging from the ceiling and an idea forms. Reaching for my sword, I jump over one of the statue’s bodies, climb up a nearby boulder and cut through the spike with my sword. As soon as I do, the spike breaks off and impales the statue. The creature releases a guttural roar and tries to move, but he can’t because he’s pinned to the ground. One of the creatures rises and tries to reach for me, but using its head as a stepping stone, I cut another spike and impale it too.

The other two tangled together growl with outrage and flail around, but they can’t get free.

Once I’m sure that they cannot rise, I join Lilith. “The bloody thing is attached.”

I place my hand over hers and pull, but she’s right; the sword is attached, “There has to be a way to remove it. Check the tome.” I state.

She reaches for the book and searches the pages for a minute. The statues shift and growl but remain where they are. “I don’t see anything,” she mutters as she sifts through the pages.

While she looks, I search around the statue, and that’s when I see the words carved on the statue’s crown, “Look at this!” I point to the words. “Søk inne i mørket ditt. Bare i blod vil forløsning bli funnet, og i forsoning ta mørket,” I gaze back at Lilith and interpret the words, “Search within your darkness. Only in blood will redemption be found, and in atonement beat the darkness.”

Lilith’s brow furrows, “What does that mean?”

I shrug, “Hod was said to have mistakenly killed his brother Baldr with a mistletoe arrow that Loki tricked him into using. I imagine he was destroyed by the knowledge that he killed his brother, and the arrow is the key—”

“To his redemption. He needs to make right what he did with the arrow. And only his blood and power can do it,” Lilith answers.

Before I can say a word, she grabs a knife and cuts the palm of her hand, “I had Hod’s power. Perhaps it will work if I use my blood.”

With those words, Lilith places her bloody hand around the quiver. As soon as she does, the quiver begins to shudder and slides out of Hod’s hands.

Lilith takes the quiver in her hands and appraises it.

“This is brilliant craftsmanship,” she mutters reverently.

“Let’s go before anything else happens,” I reach for her hand and lead her back out of the chamber. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to cross the bridge again, but we make it out of the waterfall without any further issue.”

“That was a bit anticlimactic,” she murmurs, “I expected the whole bloody place to come down on us, but…” she shrugs, “Nothing happened.”

I nod, “I guess we should count our blessings, luv.”

We walk a distance until our powers are restored. Then, we go back to the campground and say our goodbyes to the others before going back to Lilith’s home.

Lilith looks at the arrow, “Now, all we need to do is use it to harness the darkness.”

I nod, “You just need to give me the arrow, so I can harness the Tenebrous.”

She shakes her finger in front of my face, “I don’t think that would be a good idea. How do I know you won’t take the Tenebrous and use it for yourself?”

I shake my head and pulls her into my arms, “Do you truly think I would do that after all that we’ve gone through?”

Lilith places her hand on my chest and glares, “You cannot seduce me into letting you take the arrow on your own.”

My lip quirks at her swift reprimanding tone, “I can respect that, luv. How about we take a moment to celebrate our success,” I state against her lips. I know I should keep my distance, but she’s so alluring, and my body refuses to accept what my mind tells me to do.

Lilith doesn’t seem unwilling either. Without another word, I lead her to the bed and show her how amazing we are together. Nothing matters at that moment. Not even the fact that I’m falling so hard for her or that I need to tell her the truth.

Once we’ve satiated ourselves, Lilith falls into a deep sleep, and a niggling feeling rushes through my mind, followed by Ma’at’s voice, “We need to speak. I am at your home now.”

I grit my teeth at the intrusive feel of her voice in my head, “I’m on my way.”

Before I flash out of the room, I give Lilith one last guilty look and think about how she will never forgive me once she learns what I’ve done. My heart breaks at the thought.