Perfekt Control (The Ære Saga Book 2) (18 page)

“Kind of.” Mia looked up from her note
taking. “Y’all take a holistic approach to medicine.”

“More of an integrative approach,” Elsa
corrected. “Because we learn to command our energy from an early
age, we’re able to create somewhat of a bubble around ourselves.
The bubble keeps us from co-mingling our energetic spheres, and
maintains the purity and invincibility of our corporeal form. You
call it immortality; we call it energy medicine.”

“Fascinating.” Mia’s pencil scribbled
furiously.

“But sometimes we drop our guard,” Elsa
continued. “We let our bubbles slip; we release our energy and
forget to call it back; we allow someone’s energy to enter into our
space. That’s when we get injured. That’s when real damage can
occur.”

“Hold on. I thought Tyr was bleeding because
a dragon bit him.” Mia looked confused.

“That’s part of it.” Elsa knelt at Tyr’s
side, and took his palm between her hands. She closed her eyes,
took a breath, and exhaled slowly. Then she waited.

In the meantime, Mia looked like she might
jump out of her chair. Her eyes darted to me, and I held up one
finger, signaling for her to wait. Elsa needed to focus while she
assessed Tyr’s wounds.

“Good. These injuries are purely physical.
Tyr, you’re suffering from a basic dark magic malady. What happened
with the dragon?” Elsa asked.

“Its head nicked me with a fang on descent
after I decapitated it.” Tyr shrugged.

“Oh my god!” Mia paled.

“It happens.” I shrugged. “Tyr can take a
dragon fang.”

“He can,” Elsa assured Mia. “Tyr’s wound is
an example of an unavoidable injury—if an Asgardian is struck by an
object laced with dark magic—a jotun spear, or a dragon’s
tooth—”

“Or a homicidal wolf?” Mia interjected.

“Exactly. Dark magic compromises our
self-healing ability. Thankfully, I’ve got a prescription for
that.”

“Like a medicine?” Mia asked.

“Kind of,” Elsa agreed. “Watch, Mia. Tyr,
close your eyes.”

Tyr did as instructed, leaning against the
back of the couch and stretching out his legs. “Give me your worst,
sis.”

Elsa held out her hands and ran them over
Tyr’s body without touching him. She paused over his leg and his
stomach, where his clothing was stained with blood. Elsa furrowed
her brow, then placed one palm a few inches above his thigh, and
the other over his belly button. She drew a deep breath and exhaled
forcefully, then moved her hands in a slow figure-eight pattern.
She continued the motion, drawing her palms up slowly with each
cycle until her hands were level with her shoulders. I knew from
experience she’d just taken all the dark energy out of Tyr’s body.
I also knew from experience it hurt like Mother Frigga. But Tyr
didn’t flinch. In fact, it was entirely possible he’d fallen
asleep.

Show-off
.

When Elsa’s arms were at ninety degrees to
her torso, she flicked her fingers, as if she was whisking away a
pesky fly, not banishing dark energy to the tenth realm.

Double show-off.

With the darkness removed, Elsa took a clear
crystal from her box and rubbed it between her palms, set it down,
and brought her hands back to Tyr’s injuries. She took a breath and
pushed healing energy into the wounds. The trickle of blood stopped
immediately, as Tyr’s stomach and thigh began to heal
themselves.

I snuck a glance at Mia. She looked like
she’d just walked in on a herd of baby pegasuses learning to fly.
She was equal parts shock and awe as her orderly mind struggled to
process what she saw. I got it; if I hadn’t been born into it, it
would be hard to believe this kind of healing was possible. It
certainly defied the mortal science Mia grew up on.

Life with us definitely involved a steep
learning curve.

Elsa cleared her throat and pulled two vials
out of her healing kit. With the physical portion of her task
complete, she could attend to Tyr’s energetic needs.

“These are botanical extracts.” Elsa held up
the vials so Mia could see. “Both human and Asgardian bodies are
comprised mostly of water, and plant cells can manipulate the
water’s energy. I have my junior healers locate plants containing
specific frequencies—one plant’s cells might minimize anxiety,
another can improve focus—you get the idea. My juniors bring the
plants to me and I distill their essences. Right now, I’m going to
administer some pine and red chestnut to your boyfriend.”

“Again with the pine?” Tyr groaned.

“When you learn to let go of your guilt, I’ll
take you off the pine. The red chestnut, I think, you’d better just
get used to. I don’t see you not worrying any time soon. Now open
your mouth,” Elsa ordered. Tyr did, and she placed two drops from
each of the vials underneath his tongue.

“Are we finished?” Tyr murmured after he’d
swallowed.

“You are. Now, lie there and regenerate.
Calmly
,” Elsa instructed. Tyr became the picture of
relaxation.

While Mia scribbled furiously on her paper,
Elsa stepped to my side. “May I?” she asked, and I nodded. She took
my hand between hers and closed her eyes. I did the same, opening
myself up to her energy. Things would go a lot faster if I dropped
my walls.

Defenses down.

“Ouch,” Elsa clucked, as I let her see my
worst.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered.

“What’s happening?” Mia asked.

“Brynn’s physical ailment was caused by an
energetic deficiency. Would you please tell Mia what happened in
Muspelheim?” Elsa asked.

“Henrik and I were fighting giants, and one
landed on my leg after I killed him. Crushed it.” I shrugged.

Mia cringed.

“Now the body of a fire giant, in and of
itself, is not laced with dark magic. Its weapons might be, or
whatever fire they’re breathing these days might be enchanted. But
a corpse shouldn’t have kept Brynn’s leg from healing itself.”

“So why didn’t it?” Mia asked.

I snuck a glance at Tyr. He lay on the couch,
eyes closed as he allowed his body to regenerate. But I knew what
he was thinking. He’d know whose energy was all up in my space.

Odin bless him for keeping his mouth
shut.

“Brynn’s at an energetic imbalance. I need to
recall her energy from all of the places she’s left it behind—Brynn
has a
lot
of energy and she tends to forget to keep it with
her.” Elsa tutted. “And I’ll need to eject the foreign energy from
her space. That will restore her energetic order so her body can
heal itself.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Where’d you learn that
kind of magic?”

Elsa shook her head. “It’s not magic, Mia.
It’s energy. Mortals can do it, too.”

“Get. Out.” Mia’s jaw fell open.

I tilted my head. “I’ve never understood that
about your race, Mia. You’re so intent on placing everything into
identifiable boxes. Even your religions are at war with each other,
literally at war, to prove that their god is the true god. It never
occurs to humans that one supreme being could reveal Himself in
countless ways to countless cultures in the manner each would best
understand Him, or that all physical and energetic systems could be
interconnected.”

“Their race is young,” Tyr spoke without
opening his eyes. “The light elves only reached that level of
consciousness a few millennia ago.”

“True,” Elsa agreed. “And a small number of
the mortals already understand all of this. It’s just a matter of
their being able to open the minds of the others to accept what
is.”

As Mia mulled that over, Henrik called from
downstairs. “Swedish pancakes are ready! I’ve got lemon-sugar ones,
lingonberry ones,
and
Nutella ones. You’re welcome,
folks.”

Tyr sat up. “Check me again, Elsa. I think
I’ve regenerated.”

Elsa scooted over so she could take Tyr’s
hand in hers. After a moment, she nodded. “You’re all clear. Mia,
I’m afraid this is where you’ll need to leave. Take my brother and
get out of here. Grab some pancakes, maybe take a walk before bed,
talk through everything you’ve just seen and let Tyr help you make
sense of it. I need a few minutes alone with Miss Brynn.”

Mia nodded. “Thanks for letting me watch. I
have, like, a million more questions, but I guess we’ve got time,
right?”

Tyr walked to her side and put a hand on her
lower back. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “We have
forever. Come on, we can talk over pancakes.” He guided her out of
the office, leaving me with the person who could see through all my
wounds, physical and otherwise.

Elsa closed the door behind Tyr and moved to
stand in front of me. The two of us stared at each other for what
felt like
forever
without blinking. Finally, Elsa gave a
small smile, lowered herself onto a chair, and pulled it so she sat
right across from me. There was enough space between our knees so
we didn’t touch, but we were close enough that I knew our energetic
spheres bumped up against each other.

Just like she wanted them to.

“It’s up to you, Brynn. How do you want to
play this?” Elsa asked.

“You’re the intuitive one. Shouldn’t you tell
me my best path and set me on it?” I asked.

Elsa looked disappointed again. “That’s not
how this works, and you know it.”

“I know,” I muttered. “And I realize it’s in
everybody’s best interest if I let you fix me and go to Nidavellir
with all my ducks in a row, but
förbaskat
, Elsa, it’s still
too raw. I know I’ll have to access those memories in order for you
to heal me, and I’m just not ready to relive that all over again.
It’s too painful.”

“I can certainly respect that.” Elsa reached
out to clasp my hand. “But putting
that
particular elephant
from your past aside, Brynn, there’s a lot going on with you right
now. Your energy is all over the place. I can see you’re thinking
about the past, and worrying about what Freya’s absence means for
your future. You’re living in fear of what was and what might be,
and you’re completely ungrounded from the present.
That’s
the reason you got hurt.
That’s
the reason Tyr’s afraid to
send you back into the field tonight. He can’t see everything I
can, but he’s bound to pick up on the fear in your aura.”

“He can see it?”

“It’s really thick,” Elsa confirmed. “Is it
more than just… is there more to it than thinking about what
happened last time?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. This was
so
not something I wanted to talk about.

Thankfully with Elsa, not talking was always
an option.

Instead, I pushed the image of me kissing
Henrik followed by Henrik’s rebuff, toward my friend.

“Mmm,” she murmured, her face impassive.
“That’s rough.”

“You think?”

Elsa breathed deeply and released my hand. I
opened my eyes and watched as she held her hands out in front of
her. She lowered them gently into her lap, then nodded. “You’re
concerned about how this is going to affect the friendship,” she
surmised.

“
Ja
.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get you back in control
of your own energy. You know you can’t control his choices. But you
can control how presently you walk your path. And when you are
truly present, there can be no fear.” Elsa smiled.

Clearly, the clairvoyant had never been truly
present with a horde of angry fire giants.

“You misunderstand,” Elsa corrected. It was
creepy how she could do that. “Fear is the absence of presence. It
exists in the past, or the future. But in this moment, this
reality, there is only presence. There is only being. There can be
no fear.”

“You say that all the time.” I shook my head.
“It’s not so easy for me.

“Because you’re good at many things, Brynn
Aksel, but owning your energy is not one of them. Ground yourself
for me—anchor your body to the earth, and recall all of the energy
you’ve scattered around this week.”

I closed my eyes again and forced myself into
the moment, opened my palms and pictured each spot I’d spent time,
sucking the energy pricks from each of the coordinates.

“Good,” Elsa praised. “Now fully inhabit
your
space. And draw on the golden energy that is uniquely
yours—pull it from above and let it flow through your body until
your cells buzz with your unique imprint.”

“You’re healing me,” I complained.

“I’m grounding you,” Elsa corrected. “If I
was healing you, you’d know.”

Fine
.

“I heard that.” Elsa sighed.

I drew a breath and refocused.

“Good. Now
this
is your most
productive space. This is where you are fully
you
. And in
this now, there is no fear, is there?”

“No,” I admitted. I felt alive. Focused.

I felt powerful.

“Now, I want you to try to inhabit this space
all the time. Especially when you leave for Nidavellir. I know it’s
hard for you, so until we get to that proper healing, I’m going to
give you something to retain this state. But remember, this is like
a bandage—a quick fix. The deeper healing requires more work.”

I opened my eyes. Elsa lifted the pitcher
from the desk and filled one of the cups with water. She grabbed a
small vial out of her healing kit and unscrewed the lid before
adding a few drops to the water and handing the cup to me.

“What was that?” I asked after I drank.

“Mimulus essence. This, combined with the
grounding, should help keep your fear of losing Henrik’s friendship
at bay for a few days. Hopefully that’s all we’ll need to bring our
girl home.” Elsa picked up the clear crystal again, and rubbed it
between her palms. Then she stood, and packed up her kit. “And
after that, when you’re ready to tackle the deeper thing, I’m here.
You know where to find me.”

I stood and bent into a stretch. Healings,
even minor ones, took it out of me. “Thanks Elsa. It’s a crazy life
we lead,
ja
?”