On the seventh day of their journey, they walked on either side of Brunte, through a light snowfall over several steep, elongated hills. If they hadn't been afraid of losing the ley line, they would've chosen a more traversable path.

For each valley they passed, the ley line widened, and the smells that washed over Idun swelled. The spruce shoot's fresh, sour scent turned so intense it became acrid, and the smell of chanterelles made her stomach turn. The smells easily wormed their way through the cracks of every mental wall she raised to protect herself. The ley line seemed to pull them like a torrent towards a waterfall. Soon, Idun thought, they might be thrown over the edge.

Viveka walked with her hands over her ears in a pointless attempt to shut out the sounds of the ley line. Idun wished she'd be able to hold her hand. That would give them a welcome distraction, but getting too close would only make it worse for both of them.

The next hill was so curved they would've seen it close into a ring if a dense patch of spruces hadn't been in the way. They slid down the slope, passed through the low, prickly branches, and entered a circular clearing.

Idun's heart rate sped up. In front of her stood three circles of ten raised stones in decreasing size, with the four smallest in the middle. Where snow hadn't stuck on the stone, angular carvings with traces of gold gleamed. A breath came from the middle stone.

He sat on his knees with snow to the waist. Snow covered his narrow shoulders and bowed head, but Idun would've recognized her brother anywhere.

"Torbyorn!" She ran towards him and passed the first circle consisting of three raised blocks. A summer wind swept past, making her skin tickle as if drying in the sun after a swim. She slowed down and looked around. Viveka tied Brunte to a young oak and took out her axe.

Idun lost her breath. Viveka would never. But they'd only known each other for a week. And Torbyorn was a threat to her home.

Idun backed a couple of shaky steps from Viveka. As she passed the second circle, with stones as high as her, smoke filled her lungs. She coughed until her whole body trembled. Stumbling and gasping for air, she continued until dark circles were visible under Torbyorn's eyes. He was paler than she'd ever seen him, with chapped lips and sunken cheeks.

"Torbyorn?" she wheezed through the cough.

For the first time, he hadn't noticed her coming. He looked up, his ice-blue eyes empty, and met Idun's gaze for a heartbeat before breaking off. His gaze flickered around her face. It was as if he could only see her every third heartbeat.

"What do you want?" The words nearly vanished in the wind that tucked him in with snow. His voice was weak and hoarse as if he hadn't eaten or drunk in days.

Idun braced herself and walked to the middle circle, where the three stones reached her waist and the ley line pulled her in three directions. The smoke eased and she could finally breathe.

"To save you! Whether you think I need to or not. "

She reached for Torbyorn, but as she passed the inner circle, a tsunami of impressions crashed against her. Her mental wall was washed away like sand and memories filled her senses.

A blinding bolt of lightning struck an oak with a crack.

People carved and gilded a boulder.

A massive, hairy animal with long, curved tusks walked through the valley and made the ground tremble with every step.

Torbyorn still sat in front of her, but every other moment his face was sun-kissed and his hair free of snow.

He smiled at her as he used to when she was little. "I can help you with your mental wall later. But now I need to concentrate, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Idun hadn't had a problem with her mental wall since she was fifteen. Part of her missed that time. It would be so easy to join him in the memory, to go back to a time when everything he did seemed wise and right.

Unfortunately she knew better by now, and she was still stronger. She grabbed Torbyorn by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet. He was stiff from the cold and blinked like a fish that didn't understand how it came ashore. Only when he was pulled past the inner circle of stones, did he resist. He slipped from Idun's grip and pushed her in the waist. She took a step back to keep her balance but collapsed when a wave of Torbyorn's inner senses hit her. The place had washed away the energy she needed to build a mental wall and had left her defenseless.

In the depths of what had been, Idun drowned alongside Torbyorn. He was losing himself. Who he was and who he had been was ripped from him and sank like a handful of gravel.

Through memories and falling snow, Viveka came running. She swung the axe and Torbyorn collapsed.

Idun screamed. Panic and fear tore her out of the sea of ​​memories. Viveka held the axe under the blade with the shaft like a club.

There wasn't any blood. Neither on the axe nor in the snow where Torbyorn sprawled.

"Are you okay?" Viveka's breath was short and shallow, and her soft, brown eyes filled with worry. She bent down to help Idun up, but she was waved away.

Idun gasped for air. "Help Torbyorn get away from here. It's drowning him!" She crawled to her knees and hoped that the world would stop spinning before she threw up.

Viveka cautiously poked Torbyorn with her foot. No reaction. She bent down to pull him away, but as a snake strikes its prey, he grabbed Viveka's wrists. She jerked but couldn't shake him. With eyes wide with panic, Viveka was drawn into the stream of memories.

"This is exactly what Grandma said would happen!" Idun cried.

Torbyorn turned to Idun, still with an iron grip on Viveka. "She can't stop me now."

Like fog, a memory from Torbyorn engulfed her.

She was home, but with wooden toys scattered on the floor. Their grandma sat in a chair by the fire, her grey hair braided over one shoulder. In her lap sat a sad, blond girl.

"What we understand of others thoughts through our inner senses are like rings on water. After the thought has landed in the mind we can only guess where the waves came from," Ylva said.

Idun was seven. It was the day she learned why she could sense scents that didn't exist. She had wanted to get rid of them and had thought Grandma could take them away.

A blond, slender boy leaned against the door frame. Torbyorn was five years older than Idun but few could tell. Outside, people passed by, unaware of how much of their thoughts he heard and saw. Only their Grandma could guess, but even she underestimated him. Despite that, she was afraid of what he might become with two inner senses. He could see it in her eyes, the same that always motivated Idun. Whenever she was encouraged to use her inner senses, he was warned to not rely too much on his own.

"So what?" Idun shouted. "Do you want to see how far you can go? Can't you tell you're drowning?"

The fog eased. Viveka was hunched over a step from Torbyorn, green with nausea. With her eyes closed and her hands over her ears, she fought to shut Torbjörn out of her mind even though he'd let her go physically.

The world swayed when she rose, but Idun stumbled determinately towards Viveka. The idea that Viveka went through what she had just endured burned her insides. All this to protect Garda. Viveka must be the most devoted person Idun had met.

The fog and nausea blew away. Only Viveka and Torbyorn kept her attention, but mostly Viveka.

The part of Torbyorn who tried to drown Idun got no grip and the fog ran off her like water off lady's mantle.

Idun kneeled and gently placed her calloused hands on Viveka's rosy cheeks. "Listen to me. Focus on us."

Viveka's eyelids fluttered before opening. Her brown eyes were dulled to a muddy grey and wandered between the raised stones before finding Idun. Colour began to return and soon they were the soft brown Idun loved.

Idun smiled dreamily, lost in Viveka's eyes. "When we focus enough on each other, everything else disappears. That's how we lost the ley line."

A tired smile brightened Viveka's face. "You're so cute when you're smart."

Idun's heart melted and drowned all doubts. Torbyorn lost his grip on them completely. He couldn't drown them if they were already drowning in each other and the moment they created.

They nodded, an abundant confirmation as Idun felt Viveka's determination grow. Together they lifted Torbyorn and carried him through the snow towards the screen of spruces.

Idun's mental wall wobbled from Torbyorn's waves, but she only had to look at Viveka to strengthen them.

When they left the outer circle, Torbyorn became limp and a spark of recognition lit in his eyes.

"What's happening?" he mumbled.

Idun clenched her jaw. "We're dragging you from the problems you've thrown yourself in. I can't believe you walked into this."

Idun lifted a corner of her mental wall.

Ambition. Regret. Curiosity. Confusion-

She blocked Torbyorn's feelings with ease before they could drown her, but it was harder to shake the feelings they left.

He'd already fainted when they laid him on the ground.

Idun sat down next to him with tears threatening to spill over. "I don't know what to do. What if he's already gone?"

Viveka sat down on her knees next to her, shook her head, and took Idun's hands in hers. "Don't say that. He's still breathing, so there's hope."

"Thanks to you." An infinite warmth filled Idun. "This is exactly what you wanted to avoid, why didn't you do anything?"

Viveka rolled her eyes with a hint of sarcasm. "For your sake, of course. Everything I've done the last couple of days has been for you."

"Thanks again and I'm s-"

"Come on, I forgave you days ago." Viveka hugged Idun and went to get Brunte.

They made camp and wrapped Torbyorn into a cocoon of blankets. He was still unconscious, but his breath was even and the dark circles under his eyes had faded.

They kept close to the fire and planned while the snow eased. If they built a sleigh, Brunte could use it to pull Torbyorn to Heathers Bay. While passing through Garda they would refill their provisions, but avoid any confrontation with Viveka's father. They wouldn't tell anyone what had happened, at least until they knew what actually had happened.

"I've been thinking," Viveka said as they ate. "When I went to get Brunte, I had to cross the ley line again... I heard voices. Not scary ones, not ghosts," she added as Idun paled. "Well, I went a little closer to the stone circles."

Idun tensed. "What was it?"

"Relax Idun, it was stories and songs. I think the people who were there knew those moments would be remembered forever. Frozen." Viveka blushed and took a deep breath to gather courage. Idun's heart leaped. "So I was wondering if you might want to leave a memory there with me?"

Idun's face burned. "More than anything!" She threw herself in Viveka's embrace and hugged until their cheeks ached from giggles and they had to pull apart to catch their breath.

After making sure Torbyorn was comfortable, they walked hand in hand back to the stone circles. The sun played with the frost in the treetops, but there was still time for light before night settled in. With mental walls built of feelings for each other, they crossed the frozen waves of memories that had recently tried to drown them. It was ridiculously easy to ignore everything but Viveka.

At the center of the stone circles, they threw themselves into each other's arms. Idun lifted Viveka by the waist and spun her. She squealed with delight as her beanie fell off and let her red hair fly free.

Viveka put her hands on Idun's cheeks. "I'm trying to come up with something romantic to say, but all I want to do is kiss you."

Idun was dizzy with joy. "By Lofn, I won't stop you."

Viveka leaned down until their lips met. A lovely warmth rose inside, trickled out into her fingertips, and pushed away the heavy cold. The problems of the future were nothing they couldn't tackle together.

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Authors Note: Thank you for joining Idun and Viveka on their journey. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I have ideas for a sequel, but that'll likely be a while since I wanna finish To be Bound by Time first.^^

The Lofn mentioned earlier is, among other things, the Goddess of  forbidden mariges.