The Northman Returns
The searing pain and
flames engulfed Eric Northman on the summit of the Swedish mountain top. He
knew there was no escape from his end this time. He could not move and pleaded
for the true death to take him quickly. Suddenly he was surrounded by a freezing
wind and snow storm that poured over the peak in a dark cloud, blocking the rays
of the sun. The flames died and Eric laid a charred mass upon the snow. He
could hear the sound of bells and hear a voice whisper on the wind, “Northman
you are mine and I will heal you for your promise to me. Do you agree?”
Eric could not move and
before everything went dark in his mind he gasped, “Yes…”
Eric awoke in the dark on
a birch bed covered with furs under what appeared to be a deep rock overhang.
From the bed he could see the moonlit, snow covered ground and surrounding
woods. As he moved slowly to the entrance of the overhang he could see the
stars and aurora borealis dancing in green and pink in the night sky. The trees
around the open meadow ahead of him were so tight together in places it looked
like walls. To his right, outside the overhang, he could see a fire in what
looked like a stone hearth. It was like being indoors and out at the same time.
It reminded him of when he made love to Sookie.
His skin felt tight and
cold, but he was healed from what he could see. His legs looked normal and his
arms, but there was something different that lingered. A vampire had many
senses that the normal human lacked and Eric knew something was different and
something else was present nearby.
Eric could hear the bells
again and it made a memory flash through his mind to his family and childhood.
He had been a child when he had climbed the ridge near his families lodge in
the winter to retrieve a ewe that had wandered away from their small herd. It
was close to sunset when he had reached the top of the ridge and he remembered
the beauty of the sun setting on the fjord. He could hear his mother calling
and he was trying to urge the ewe down the slope. He had heard the same type of
bells and turned to see a beautiful woman in white walking towards him. She
offered him her hand and with a voice of honey and milk said, “Eric take my
hand and I will help you home.”
As the memory
disappeared, Eric turned to see the same woman walking towards him. He could
smell her too and she smelled of summer grass, honey, and the air off the
fjord. It overwhelmed his senses and desire began to boil in his blood. There
was only one type of creature that smelled that good and that was fay or
fairies.
“Who are you and what
have you done to me,” Eric growled defensively with his fangs down and eyes
glaring at the creature.
“Eric I brought you here
to heal and you lay in my realm,” she answered. The fairy’s skin was almost iridescent
in the moonlight and her hair was the color of fire, reminding him of Jessica.
“Your realm,” Eric was
ready to lung at her.
“Yes, to the Saligen, my
home between worlds.”
Eric relaxed slightly
recognizing the name to which she mentioned and questioning asked, “You’re a
fairy?”
“Yes, you may call me
Agneta,” she paused and with a devilish smile, “Your people know me by many
names including wilden frulein, schneefräulein, or in English, ice fairy.
However, you and I have met before. I was bound to help your family by your
mother."
Eric relaxed completely
and he could hear the chants of his mother in the morning begging Mother Nature
to protect and care for her family. He never believed the way his mother had in
the mystic power of Mother Nature. Every spring she would do the Dance of Life
and sacrifice a young lamb.
"You were there...
when I was a young boy!" He immediately thought about the night his
parents died. "If you were bound to help my family why did you not save
them the night of their brutal slaying by the werewolves?"
"I cannot stop all
creatures. Humans are easy yes, but supernatural creatures have various powers
and I could not stop them all or their master. Just as I could not come to you
until you were in a weakened state."
Eric’s anger and thirst
grew unbearable and he lunged into the moonlight to take the fairy. He did not
know what powers he would absorb, but he hoped like Sookie or Warlow it would
allow him time in the sun and maybe a chance to return to Bon Temps. As he
caught her arm in surprise, his fangs went deep in the artery and the blood hit
his system fast and hard.
Agneta blasted Eric with
an eerie blue light from her palm, similar to the golden light Sookie
possessed. Eric reeled away in pain and he felt as if a spike was being driven
through his head. His body felt as if it was being pierced by tiny blades and
he fell to the ground on his knees. "Ahhh...What are you doing to
me!"
"Serves you right!
You cannot drink my blood in that way Eric Northman." The wound on her arm
healed instantly and she stepped back away from him. "If you are hungry, I
can nourish you in a different way."
"What is this? Stop
the pain!"
"The pain will go
away soon vampire. You see my blood is like the frozen water fresh from the
glacier; clean and pure. It does not feed you like a human or other fairies
might." Agneta eyed him sideways and added, "I know you have tasted
fairy blood before or you would not have been able to be on the peak in the
daylight when I found you."
Agneta continued,
"You can consume only the very smallest amount of my blood at any time for
the purpose of healing. My blood will change you as well...so heed my warning
and do not try to drink me again!" She closed her eyes and summoned a red
deer. It came trotting out of the woods and stopped near the fire. It just
stood there to Eric’s astonishment. Next, Agneta gathered snow from the ground
and a crystal goblet appeared out of the snow that she cupped in her hands. She
walked to the beast that stomped the ground confused. She reached out and
touched the beast as if to comfort it and the deer knelt down to the ground.
With her free hand she took another handful of snow and a crystal dagger
appeared. She quickly made a small puncture to the neck of the deer and caught
the blood of the beast in the goblet. The deer moaned and eventually rose to
its feet and left. Agneta returned with the deer blood to Eric, who was trying
to stand up now.
"Show me your
fangs!" she commanded.
Eric opened his mouth and
she pricked her finger on the tip of one fang. A single droplet formed on the
tip of her finger and she swirled it in the blood, "Drink!"
Eric hated drinking the
blood of animals and it was difficult to take the goblet.
"Drink it and
enjoy!"
He sniffed the cup and
all he could smell was her essence. He cautiously tasted the blood and to his
surprise it tasted of the finest ice wine made from the first frosted grapes in
fall. A tingling sensation permeated his body. He felt better and stronger; yet
again different.
Suddenly he realized that
the dawn was breaking and felt the need to hide from the sun. "I must
sleep or I will fry in the sun again and everything you have done to help me
will be lost."
"No Eric, from now
on my blood is a part of you and you will be able to walk at dawn and dusk and
in the fog, rain, or snow during the day as I do. You will not be at your
strongest, you will still bleed, but you will be able to see the sunset again
as in your youth. Day by day it will be different for you."
"What are you
talking about? I am a vampire, or have you forgotten?"
"My blood has begun
to purify your vampire blood. A fight has begun in your very cells and one day
you will have to make a decision - to be vampire or to be human. I have given
you back your humanity. You can feel more now than when you were just a vampire.
And now for your promise to me Northman."
Eric stood stunned. How
was this possible? Once a vampire there was no going back, but this creature
had changed all that. Suspiciously Eric answered, "What must I
promise?"
"It will not be
easy, but if you break the promise you will turn to ash as my blood connects me
to you. You will not feed on humans anymore and only on the blood of animals.
You will keep this goblet and dagger with you and feed as you have seen here. I
will provide you with an elixir of my blood to make the animal blood more palatable,
as was the deer’s blood. Do you understand?"
Eric was almost outraged
and began to growl again. The fairy looked him directly in the eyes. Suddenly,
his skin began to crack and turn ashen grey. He could not move and was frozen
in place. The pain was unbearable, similar to burning, but there were no
flames.
"Make your choice
Eric Northman - live or die now!"
"Aghh...I...I
AGREE!" Eric yelled and the sensation ended quickly and again his skin
returned to normal. Whatever power Agneta held over him now there was no going
back and he silently wished that he had died than be at the mercy of Agneta.
However, as the sun rose, he felt conflicted. To see the sun rise and set and
walk in the day, even if it was only when it rained or was foggy, forever could
have its benefits. Now he could feel the bleeds coming on. "I have to
sleep," he said tired from the torture he had endured.
Agneta turned and raised her arms and gently blew. A cloud of snow rose
in the wind and covered the sky above the Saligen until it became grey and dark
enough that Eric would not burn. He returned to the darkness of the overhang
and hid under the furs for nightfall.
I enjoyed reading your story, is there more? I love reading Eric Northman fanfiction <3
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