The next few days passed without much excitement. Tove stayed in her bed all day, Hrollief came and ate meals with her in her room, and she began having very odd dreams. They weren’t nightmares, at least not like the ones she’d had before, but her demon still appeared in every dream, though always weaker than it had been before her trip into the woods. At her side every night in her dream was the wolf that she had seen the night she walked in her sleep, and it kept the demon far away from her. After she woke from the one of these dreams, she realized what had changed since her trip into the woods. Her collar had cracked, and the demon’s hold over her had grown significantly weaker. Now Tove knew what to do. The woods had broken the seal on the magic that held her collar together, now her part was to take it off- a feat much easier said then done. During the next few days that Tove stayed in her room she tried to pry it off, but the metal had sunk deep into her skin, binding itself to her. When or if she managed to take it off, there was going to be pain and blood.

After Hrollief had left her the evening of the fourth day, Tove decided it was time. She felt strong enough now to take it off and survive the process. Even if she didn’t, she would much rather die protecting the man she loved than die any other way. Her heart skipped a beat. This was the first time she had admitted to herself that she loved him. But thinking about it now, she knew it was true, and this strengthened her resolve.

She waited a couple hours to ensure most people were asleep, then she grasped a hand on either side of her collar, and pulled with all her might. It felt as though she was trying to rip off her own skin, but she kept pulling. Eventually, it began to give way; one of the broken ends came free of her skin, then slowly the rest followed. Tove tried to suppress the need to scream. She whimpered in pain, tears streaming down her face, but when the final inch of the collar wouldn’t let go, she let out a long, frustrated and pained scream, and it came off. She threw the bloody collar aside, a heavy weight finally lifted from her shoulders, and put a hand to her neck. She was bleeding, but, thankfully, it wasn’t quite as bad as she had expected. She took one of the thinner blankets from her bed and wrapped it around her neck, trying to stifle the flow of blood. Then, she noticed something odd, something that made her stomach churn. The golden collar began to melt, its metal turning black while it soaked up the blood left on it. Then, ever so slowly, the metal morphed and spread and grew into the creature from her nightmares, its skin an inky black, with blood dripping from its fangs and claws. Horror, terror, and a death-like cold like she had never felt before rushed through her body, her heart racing. The blood was pumping so hard in her ears she didn’t hear the pounding outside her door.

* * *

His dream was filled with snow and pale blue light. Distantly, he heard a voice calling out, then it began screaming, a long and pained scream. He woke, and for a moment thought he was still dreaming, because the screaming continued. In an instant he knew what was going on, and in that same instant the screaming stopped. He grabbed his sword and hurried to Tove’s room, a group of men reaching the door just as he did. A thick, cold darkness was seeping through the cracks of the door. Hrollief pushed at the it, throwing his weight against it, but the door held, its wood freezing to the touch. “TOVE!” He roared, readying his sword for the worst, its blade glowing brightly.

“H-hrollief, do-do not come i-in here! It will k-kill you!”

“Tove, I will not let you die!”

“I-I can fight it!”

”NO! Tove you cannot kill it by yourself!” Silence answered him. With a cry of determination he drove his blade through the wood and twisted it, the wood shattering and leaving a gaping hole in the wall. He caught a glimpse of the same nightmare-ish creature he had seen before holding Tove’s throat, then an inky black cloud surrounded him and his men.

* * *

Tove saw Hrollief for a split-second, then a thick black cloud surrounded him and his men, and began filling the room, eventually covering her and the creature as well.

She felt as though she were in a nightmare, the creature’s all-too-real claws sinking into her throat, it’s red eyes glaring down at her. Distantly she could her Hrollief calling out to her, but it was too late, she had lied, she could not defeat the demon, not when it was completely outside of her. It began to squeeze tighter, its claws sinking into her already torn throat, when there was a flash of blue light. The creature threw her onto the ground, and Tove could just see Hrollief outlined in a pale blue light before her vision faded.

* * *

The creature threw Tove aside, rising to Hrollief’s taunt. He readied himself as it lunged at him. The demon’s hand lengthened into a blade, and it brought it crashing down towards Hrollief’s head. He deflected it with his sword and made to cut through its middle, but it seized hold of his blade, ignoring the flesh melting from its body, ripped it from his grasp, and threw it aside. Hrollief pulled a dagger from his side, but he knew it would be of no use. But just as the creature lunged towards him again, something odd happened. There was a flash of pale blue light, and Tove stood behind the creature, a ring of blood around her neck and Hrollief’s spirit blade in her hand. But there was something wrong about her, she looked almost transparent, her whole body seemed to be made of light, and on the ground behind her was the shape of a body on the ground. Tove’s spirit (for Hrollief recognized what it was) moved toward the creature, and with one swift movement plunged the sword deep into its heart. The demon let out an ear-splitting cry and sunk to the floor, its flesh slowly melting onto the wood. She pulled the blade from its heart, and with another deft swing of the blade lopped off the creature’s head, which went rolling to the side.

The moment its head came off the black fog was sucked into its body, clearing the room and revealing the battle scene. The demon’s blood was splattered across the walls and floor, and as its body melted it eroded holes into the floorboards. The head dissolved and left behind a broken golden collar, bent and twisted out of shape. Hrollief stood amazed, then moved toward Tove’s spirit.

“I told you I could fight it.” Her voice was hollow, and sounded as though coming from far away.

“The blade did all the work.” They both smiled, then she offered him the sword.

“Keep this safe, you will need it in the days to come.” She gazed sweetly at him, then turned and fell back into her body. Tove gasped and coughed, her throat still bleeding profusely. Hrollief knelt beside her and did his best to stem the flow.

“Find the physician!” He ordered. The men had been thrown to the floor, unused to the power of a demon, but they jumped up at his words, all of them rushing out into the castle. Hrollief looked down at Tove, her gray eyes were clear except for a few tears, and she was looking back up at him with a triumphant smile on her face.

“We did it.” She croaked.

“You did it.” He put a finger to her lips, telling her to be quiet, and they waited. A few minutes later the physician arrived, carrying a bag of potions and dried plants. He quickly bandaged Tove’s neck and gave her a sleeping draught to help her rest. Hrollief carried her to the room next to his own and laid her down. He looked at her for a long moment, glad to finally see her at peace, then kissed her softly on the forehead, and went to rest in his own room.

* * *