Lìfa laid on the ground still panting from the rush and glared at the boy beside her, eyes wide open. For a second she felt like all words got stuck in her throat, her mouth opening and closing as her feelings raced to erupt from her. Heat ran up her cheeks as the strongest emotion outran the other ones and burst out of her like an untamed hurricane.

"You just wanted to help me? And where have you been when I actually asked for your help?" she lunged at Finn, her arms flying all around him, punching the boy anywhere she could.

"Where have you been when I was left alone with that kinky bastard? And when he stabbed me with a damned knife? You know where you can stick your help!"

After taking a few hits his surprise had worn off. Finn grabbed Lìfa's arms and pinned her back to the ground, stopping her assault of rage. As he looked down, his gaze met the sharp, cold ice and reckless wildfire behind Lìfa's eyes, her eyebrows tied into a frown and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Would you stop? I said I'm sorry!" Finn yelled back at her, slight annoyance in his tone.

Still struggling under him, Lìfa saw Finn's lips curving into a small, involuntary smile then his face falling as his eyes trailed to the still slightly bleeding wound on her hand. With a sigh he slowly let go of Lìfa's hands and sat down beside her, staring at his boots.

"I didn't want it to end like this. I saved you. I tried to be nice to you and be your ally. The least you could have said was a thank you. Instead, you just couldn't stop whining and arguing," he said with his brow furrowed, slightly shaking his head.

"So it's my fault now? Is this what you're trying to say?" came immediately the reply in a sharp, demanding tone.

"Don't even get started with this! I think it's understandable that I had enough. I just wanted to teach you a lesson, that's all," Lìfa heard his words, now rather apologetic than annoyed or angry.

She sat up beside the boy, her eyes searching for his, but Finn's gaze was fixed on the ground.

"And you thought that leaving me with that idiot would be a good idea? Don't tell me you didn't know something like that would happen! For Odin's sake, what does a creep like him do among Ingolf's men?" She started again, but now in a more calm manner. Lìfa felt the change of wind in Finn's heart and saw the regret in his green eyes. She didn't want to start another fight.

"You're right. I should've known this. Ingolf keeps Rufus to do the dirty work for him. Rockhead enjoys torturing hostages and he's quite good at it."

"Yeah, I noticed that-" Lìfa didn't finish the sentence as her eyes got caught upon a huge bird landing on a tree nearby. It settled on a lower branch, examining them with its head tilted to one side. Its feathers were black as coal and its dark, shiny eyes were staring into their souls.

Realisation hit Lìfa like an electric shock, crawling and spreading under her skin. She felt her heartbeat quickening and her throat tightening as her thoughts started into a wild race in her mind. She jumped up in an instant, never tearing her gaze from the bird. Her sudden reactions guided Finn's attention to the raven too. He slowly stood up, careful not to scare it away and stepped beside Lìfa.

"I know this bird. They are alive! I knew they must be here somewhere!" her eyes lit up with excitement, her lips pulling into a wide grin.

"What are you talking about?" Finn looked back and forth between the girl and the bird, his brows pulled together, confusion written all over his face.

Lìfa suddenly grabbed his arm and faced him, her amber eye burning with new fire.

"Do you know how to write?"

"What?" Finn's face expressed his thoughts perfectly, his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging down.

"The runes- do you know them?" Lìfa's voice was now urging and demanding, but in her blue eye desperation dwelled. Her grip tightened around Finn's arm, pulling him closer so no one else could hear them.

"Huginn is the bird of our godi. My friends must be somewhere around here. I need to send word, to tell them I'm alive."

Finn just shook his head and looked away from her burning gaze.

"No," he uttered barely above breath.

"What? That's impossible! You said your parents were rich merchants! You must know how to write them! There's no way they didn't teach you!" Lìfa felt desperation crawling to her head and taking over control. She couldn't focus with her mind loud with her own thoughts screaming and shouting.

"Look, I was always more into fighting than sitting in one place and reading! But it doesn't matter since I can't let you free right now unless I wanna get killed. And surprise, I planned to die another day!" Finn freed his arm and stepped away with an angry growl. "Also, you could have learnt those damned runes yourself instead of shouting at me!"

"It doesn't matter? Did you just say it doesn't matter?" Lìfa yelled back, her face slowly turning into red. "I'm not stupid, I know you can't let me go! But I have to send them a sign somehow! I thought you were my friend and wanted to help me." She turned away from the boy, checking if Huginn was still on the tree. The raven just sat there and waited patiently, curiosity shining in his deep black eyes.

Now, Lìfa was real close to losing her head. She paced back and forth on the clearing, murmuring under her breath.

"That stupid witch! It can't be the prophecy. Stupid runes! I know how to read maps, the stars in the sky, but I can't write down my own name. I have to find a way..."

While she struggled with the raging storm in her mind, Finn simply sat down on a trunk and examined his surroundings. As he scanned the ground his eyes got caught upon something interesting. He picked up a piece of bark to look closer. He ran his fingers across its smooth surface, his face lightening up with a sudden idea. He pulled out his knife and carved something into it.

With a huge grin, he stood up with the bark in his hand and walked up to Lìfa who was still walking up and down in frustration. As he handed the piece of wood over to her Lìfa's eyes grew wide open in surprise.

On the small bark, she saw a carving of a serpent biting into its own tail. Like the birthmark on her forearm. While she was raging to herself, Finn sat down and came up with a simple yet brilliant solution and now she had the key to her freedom in her palms. She lifted her gaze to Finn's and her lips pulled into a wide smile. Emotions flooded her body again, but this time it was different.

Without a word she pulled Finn into a tight embrace which he returned. As she buried her face into his neck and hair she breathed in his rosin scent.  Lìfa felt this warm embrace melting away the ice shards of hatred and anger piercing their hearts and reviving the memories of Heilaholm.

A gruff caw broke them apart. With slightly pink cheeks Lìfa looked up to the bird who was still expectantly sitting on the tree. She called out to him with a sharp whistle and reached out her arm for Huginn to land on. She petted his head then gave him the piece of bark.

"Take it back to Frode! Tell them that I'm alive!"

With this, the huge raven spread its huge black wings and shot over to the sky. When he disappeared among the trees Finn and Lìfa quickly returned to the camp before anyone could notice their absence. Lìfa was afraid that Rufus might have told Ingolf his encounter with Finn, but for their luck, nothing happened when they arrived back.

The camp was all packed up and they were right on time to join the crew and continue their journey to the cave. Of course, Lìfa got again her leash and her hands tied up, but this time she could walk by Finn's side as his equal. However, she often saw Rockhead lurking around, giving them nasty looks like he knew something. This gave Lìfa a bad feeling running down her spine every time, so she tried not paying attention to him.

During the first day she was too occupied to pay attention to her surrounding, but this time she had the opportunity to look around. She saw the pine trees rising high to the sky, shutting out almost every ray of sunshine. She admired the crystal clear water of the river with its colourful, small stones sitting in it. It looked like a magical jewel box sealed under the surface. As they got closer to the mountain and out of the forest, the emerald grass under their feet changed into grey rocks and colourless dirt. It was their second day of hiking and even though they were very close now to the moment of truth, at least a half day of journey was still ahead of them.

They set up a camp for the night again. This time there was no need for Rufus to be called. What happened in the morning seemed to settle things down between them. During the long walk, they picked up their conversation right from where they left it in Heilaholm. For dinner, they sat down under a huge tree, big enough for both of them leaning against it. As they were eating the steaming stew of freshly hunted rabbit they watched the rest of the crew drinking and laughing around the fire.

Lìfa enjoyed Finn's company, but as she watched the enemy having fun gambling and chatting her thoughts wandered off to her friends. Her heart sank as she remembered their times around the fire or on the ship. She missed Carolus' songs and Bjarne's insults. She missed her best friend, Sveinn.

Her thoughts must have sat out on her face as dark clouds covered the deep ocean of her eye and her mouth curved down. Finn must have noticed this because she felt his arm snaking around her shoulder, pulling her close to his chest.

"When I was a kid and my parents were away on the sea, my grandma always sang me a song to make me feel better. Do you want to hear it?" Lìfa just nodded, her mind being far away and her gaze pinned on the group of men.

"As your eyes search the distance, what do you see?
The rainbow of Bifrost* shining bright,
Above lands and oceans see us fly.
Into Valhalla, we march, so don't you cry!"

Finn started into a slow melody, his smooth voice reaching Lìfa's heart, pulling her back from the memories. As he sang, his hands were gently stroking Lìfa's hair.

"The night wind howls as we sail,
A ballad of our glory along the way.
High above the seagulls' scream
As a battle takes over the seas."

The sweet melody danced around them, calming Lìfa's mind as she snuggled up against Finn's chest and listened to him singing, dissolving in his sweet rosin scent.

"Here comes the storm with the roar of thunder
As Odin races on Sleipnir* to plunder.
We are his people, blessed by steel
So say your last prayers and follow me.

As your eyes search the distance, what do you see?
The rainbow of Bifrost shining bright,
Above lands and oceans see us fly.
Into Valhalla, we march, so don't you cry!"**

As Finn sang the last lines, Lìfa quietly hummed the melody with him. As they reached the end of the song, Lìfa felt all her worries fading away, being replaced by warmth and peace. She looked upon Finn, her unmatched eyes meeting his and her lips pulled into a faint smile.

"Thank you."

Finn stopped playing with her locks, his hand slowly trailed to her neck and pulled Lìfa into a kiss. Lìfa snaked up her arms around his neck deepening the kiss, her fingers tangling into his untamed locks. For a moment she felt like they were in Heilaholm again, sitting in the grass. Time stopped around them and the forest with the camp and all the enemy faded away, leaving only the two of them.

While her arms rested around Finn's neck, the boy's hands trailed wherever they wanted, exploring Lìfa's familiar curves.
They finally broke apart when they heard a large snap indicating that someone was coming. They quickly parted and looked around with burning cheeks, only to find a drunk mercenary walking among the bushes.

With their moment ruined, they decided to prepare a place to sleep for themselves. Finn had some blankets to lay on the ground. It wasn't the most comfortable bed she ever had, but Lìfa still found it better than last night's experience. They snuggled up again under Finn's wolfskin coat to protect themselves from the cold night. Lìfa was grateful for Finn to be there for her. She just realised how much she missed him since their ways parted in Heilaholm. She never really had the time to think about him, but whenever her fingers trailed to the small braid behind her ear her lips pulled into an involuntary smile. She never had thought that one day they might meet again. Especially not like that.

As they laid together, Finn curling up around Lìfa and hugging her from behind, Lìfa felt his bulge pressed against her back. Sweet memories of Heilaholm sneaked up her mind again, making her smile a bit, but she decided to ignore it. The enemy camp, including the man responsible for her father's death, was not the best place to continue what was forming between the two of them. Anyone catching them would end their lives in an instant. She couldn't let that happen. She had a plan to escape tomorrow.

During the day she saw Huginn and Muginn several times, following the group from above. Lìfa was sure that her friends were close and so was her escape. They just needed to get close to the cave.

With these thoughts on her mind, she fell asleep with Finn's arms around her, wrapped in his coat, feeling the warmth of his body and with new fire burning in her soul.

**The song was written especially for this chapter. The original Hungarian version is written by my very good friend, the translation is my work.

Notes:

Bifrost – a rainbow bridge  connecting Earth with Asgard, the home of the gods

Sleipnir – Odin's magical eight-legged horse who is faster than the winds

Special thanks for the sweetest Ruonaa for helping with the song and being amazing as always 💙