It felt like she'd been crying for her entire life. Freya didn't know there was that much moisture available in the body. The tears hadn't stayed on her skin long, blown away by the wind as she flew. She couldn't remember when she decided to take flight, and she couldn't remember how long she'd been in the air.

Maybe days. Maybe minutes. There was no way to tell.

When she finally landed, it was out of sheer exhaustion. She hadn't had a destination - she couldn't even see in front of her for the most part. Somewhere deep down inside she'd chosen a direction, and just kept flying until her wings gave out, landing her roughly in some abandoned forest. It felt right, that she found something abandoned. That was where she belonged. Somewhere abandoned.

She couldn't lift her wings anymore, so she walked. Her legs were scratched from the landing, and her pretty red dress was torn. Her eyes could see again; that was an improvement. So she walked through the forest, trying to figure out exactly where her emotions had taken her.

When she walked into a clearing, there was a painful pang of recognition. She couldn't place it at first, but she stopped at the middle of the little meadow, and knelt down on the grass. Little black flowers popped their heads up, swaying in the wind towards her. Begging to be touched.

It hit her like a very painful, very hard brick.

Clasping one of her hands in his, Herryk brought her fingers to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss there. The draugr then pressed their hands together palm to palm, weaving their fingers together. She would undoubtedly feel something small and round press into her palm before Herryk lowered their clasped hands. Once she opened her hand she would see his pin, a dark black against her porcelain palm.
"Herryk loves Freya so very much," he whispered against her ear, nuzzling gently against her hair, "and Herryk knows that ... there is still much that is in store for Herryk and Freya, but... Herryk knows one thing for certain. Herryk wants to be with Freya forever." He fell awkwardly silent. The words weren't phrased as smoothly as he'd have liked but there was no denying that he meant each and every word that he spoke.

Her eyes widened, but she found that even though the emotions were there, she couldn't cry. This was her limit. This was where her tears ran dry. Her hands shook as she pressed them up against her chest, where her own pin waited on a little chain. She turned it around, and stuck behind it was that same pin he'd given her that day. Her hands wrapped around the little thing, tempted to rip the entire chain off.

But she couldn't.

Her hands fell to her side, and she tilted her head back, face flushed as she screamed into the wind.

"LIAR!"

She never thought she'd use that word for Herryk. But she did. And there was no going back.

She dropped down onto the grass, curled up into fetal position, and lay there for an indefinite amount of time, as the memories of what had transpired in this meadow flashed painfully through her mind, over and over, like a broken reel. She punished herself with the memories, until they didn't hurt anymore.

That moment was yet to come.