by Amy Sumida
Trevor inhaled sharply.
“I knew it,” Fenrir hissed. “I fucking knew it! My bones never lie.”
“Who the hell is Gullinkambi?” I whispered to Trevor.
“The red rooster,” Odin said as he put his phone down on the table. “This isn't possible. The myths don't control us.”
“Must I remind you of your own death, Allfather?” Fenrir growled. “Do you recall how your spear tried to slay me, as it was meant to in the battle of Ragnorak?”
“I barely...” Odin shook his head. “My death is a little hazy for me.”
“You saved my life, Odin,” Fenrir said with intensity. “Your spear tried to fulfill its destiny when you died. And its destiny was to slay me. You used the last of your strength to push it off course, so that it merely wounded me. Myths rule our magic, and magic rules our lives.”
“Fenrir,” Odin shook his head grimly, “you've forgotten the fables, my friend. Gungnir was meant to wound you, not slay you. If I did cast it aside in my last moments, it was in an effort to save you pain, but your life was never in danger.”
“No... Gungnir is...” Fenrir frowned. “Oh...”
“It has been too long since we heard the bards sing,” Odin sighed. “But I'm afraid you got it backwards. It's you who are fated to kill me. Then Vidar slays you in vengeance.”
I shivered as Fenrir's face fell into shocked lines.
“So, the spear did fulfill its destiny,” Fenrir whispered, “and now the rooster crows. The hunger...”
“Dad,” Trevor went over to his father, and placed a supportive hand on Fenrir's shoulder. “You can do this. Keep it together. The myths do not control us.”
“Could someone please explain to me why a crowing rooster is so damn important?” I asked, trying to draw attention away from my freaking-out father-in-law.
“First the human world is supposed to go to shit,” Trevor shook his head. “Whoredom, an ax age, a sword age...”
“A wolf age,” Odin added. “Have you taken a look at the world lately? It has gone to shit. Brother fighting brother, all of that is happening.”
“But Fimbulvetr has not come,” Fenrir mused. “The winter, with its constant snows, lasting an entire year. That is supposed to precede the cock crowing.”
“Please tell me you Norse barbarians haven't started the End of the World,” Horus drawled, the usual condescension dripping from his words.
“What? No,” I looked back and forth between all the shocked faces at the table. My lions started to mutter, and I held up a hand. “Everyone calm down. They're not saying that. You're not saying that right, Odin? You're not saying that Ragnorak has begun just because some stupid bird has decided to squawk?”
“It's the third rooster,” Odin scowled at his phone as he dialed. “First is Fjalar,” he cut himself off, and started speaking into the phone, “Sutr, it's Odin. Has Fjalar crowed? I see,” Odin's jaw clenched. “Yes, it appears so. Thank you, King Sutr. I shall keep you updated.” Odin hung up the phone, and looked at us with a horrified expression. “Fjalar has crowed. The Giants are preparing for war. They believe Ragnorak is upon us.”
“No, no, no,” I made a huffing sound. “No! You already died and came back,” I pointed to Odin. “And you are family now,” I pointed to Fenrir. “You would never hurt Odin.”
“There are several prophecies concerning Ragnorak which would seem impossible to us,” Fenrir frowned. “And there is always the possibility that they could be twisted by the will of the gods. Just like the way Odin tried to twist Gungnir out of my path. But it seems that the battle itself will not be averted. I think we should all prepare for war.”
“War against who?” Azrael asked. “Will the Giants fight against you, Odin?”
“No, Sutr is a friend of mine,” Odin shook his head. “But there are several other Norse gods who would love the opportunity to march against me in battle. Several other giant races. Especially a battle in which I'm fated to die.”
“And I,” Thor said grimly, and we all turned to him. He had been quiet during the whole exchange, but now he stood and spoke. “I'm fated to kill Jormungandr and then die from his venom, but I will not hide from this. Somehow, Ragnorak has begun. And I refuse to fight it. Instead, I will save my energy for the true battle, as all of you should. If our wills are strong enough, we will be able to circumvent the myths. But only if we work with them, not against them. We need to get to Vigridr.”
“Where's that?” Azrael asked.
“On my island,” Fenrir looked to Trevor stonily.
“Evacuate it,” I stood up, and everyone turned to me in shock.
“What?!” Fenrir nearly roared.
“Get the Froekn off that island, Dad,” I growled, leaning across the table to him. “If the gods want to fight, fine, but you don't have to. They cast you out, remember? You live on that island because Odin made it for you. Otherwise, you wouldn't even have a home in the God Realm, much less in the Nine Worlds. You don't owe them anything. Fuck them and their apocalypse.”
“Vervain,” Horus chuckled, “language.”
“She's right,” Re inhaled deeply before continuing. “We wronged you and hunted you. This isn't your battle, Wolf God. But as I was one of those to start the lie which led to your banishment, I shall fight in your stead.”
“Fuck off, Sunshine,” Fenrir snarled at Re. “I am Fenrir, the Great Wolf, and neither I nor my children will ever run again!”
“Dad!” I shouted as Trevor howled in approval. “Trevor! Gods damn it. Don't let your pride blind you. Why die for them?”
“Them?” Odin asked me. “I am part of that 'them', Vervain.”
“The hell you are,” I pointed at him. “Nothing says you have to fight either, Odin. So a rooster crows, so what? You don't have to go to Video-grid.”
“Vigridr,” Kirill corrected me with a whisper.
“Yeah, that place,” I huffed. “You just sit your ass down, and stay here, where you belong. You promised to give me more, remember? I'm calling you on that. This is the more I want, you're sitting out this battle.”
Odin flinched, then his whole body went tense.
“Odin?” I started to move towards him when the same thing happened to Thor and Fenrir. “What's wrong with them?”
“Heimdall has blown his horn,” Odin turned and started heading for the tracing room as if he were a robot someone else was controlling.
“Odin!” I shouted, and ran after him. Thor and Fenrir strode past us while the rest of the room got to their feet a bit more slowly. “Stop!” I grabbed Odin by the bicep, and he finally froze.
“I can't resist it, Vervain,” Odin's beautiful eyes were wide with horror. “I can't stop myself,” his whole body was shaking, as if he were fighting invisible chains.
As I spoke with Odin, Fenrir and Thor walked by us. Emma was crying, pulling on Fenrir's arm, but he wasn't listening to her. Fenrir just drug her along with him, his eyes intent on the tracing room. Thor walked past them unhindered and traced away.
“Thor!” I screamed. “What's wrong with you people?” I shouted to the others. “Help us!” Then I turned back to Odin, “Damn it, Odin, what's happening?”
“It's the horn,” Trevor said as he grabbed Odin around the waist. “Kirill! Az! Get over here and help me. Someone get some restraints!”
“I have to go!” Odin cried. “You must let me go!”
“No, baby,” I put my hands around his face. “Please fight it. For me.”
“Fen!” Emma screamed as she was dragged into the tracing room.
“Dad!” Trevor let go of Odin to help Emma.
“Son of a bitch!” Azrael swore as he fought Odin.
“Enough of this nonsense,” Re stepped up and punched Odin in the face. Hard. My strong, Viking god fell like a sack of potatoes.
“Thanks,” I said to Re before we all ran to help Trevor with his father.
But the tracing room was empty.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Well fuck,” Finn said as he came up behind me, and stared at the empty tracing chamber. “I guess we're all going to Ragnorak.”
“What?” I turned to him. “No,” I looked at the rest of the Squad. “I know we're family, but I can't ask all of you to do this. We're talking about the entire Norse pantheon here. They're as big as the Greeks.”
Pan chuckled, “Hardly.”
“Like we haven't faced those kinds of odds before,” Hades scoffed. “I seem to recall you going into Titan territory with me, Vervain. Persephone and I will not desert you now.”
“It sounds like fun,” Pan smirked. “Who doesn't like a good Viking brawl?”
“We're wasting time,” Morpheus growled. “You've been there for all of us, V, yada-yada. Let's go! Trevor, Fenrir, and Thor are already there!”
Odin suddenly woke up, climbed to his feet, and started heading for the tracing room as if nothing had happened. Several Intare jumped on him.
“Let go of me!” Odin shouted.
“Just let him go,” I said to the lions restraining him. They released him, and Odin immediately walked past me into the tracing room. “Intare,” I called to my lions, “you're help is welcome, but this is not an order.”
“As if you ever have to order us to fight,” Fallon rolled his beautiful hazel eyes, and then he kissed Samantha. “You, however, are not coming. Watch over our daughter.”
Samantha nodded, then looked to me with wounded eyes. I wanted to tell Fallon no, that he had a child now, and I wouldn't risk him. But how could I? I had children too. I was pregnant with my own daughter. It would be a bit hypocritical of me to tell him he couldn't go because of Zariel. But I felt horrible for Sam. I knew what it was like to wait, to be left behind while someone you loved goes off into danger without you.
“I'm so sorry,” I said to her.
“No, don't be,” Samantha said firmly. “Are you forgetting that you're going to help my Valdyr? This is my fight too, Vervain, and I'm sitting it out. I should be the one apologizing.”
“Enough!” Horus snapped. “You're all a bunch of melodramatic morons. We are leaving now. Does anyone not know how to get to Fenrir's Hall?”
We all shook our heads like chastised children, and followed Horus into the tracing room. Odin was already gone. That's two of my husbands, out there, on the battlefield without me. Damn it all, Horus was right. We were just wasting time with useless drama.
We began to trace immediately. All of us lining up to get to the wall which was the only way out of my territory. Gods and demi-gods. And one triple-souled me. Only Samantha and Zariel were left behind in the empty palace. Zariel called out as Fallon reached the wall, and her words made me cringe. I knew I would carry them into the battle with me, a weight upon my heart. As would Fallon.
“Daddy, don't go!”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Fenrir's Hall was in chaos when we arrived. Froekn were running around in wolf form while Norse gods strode through the furry tide with grim faces and sharp blades. I recognized several of the gods from past trips to Asgard, but they strode past me with barely a second glance.
“Fenrir!” I shouted as our group navigated the sea. “Trevor! Odin! Where are you?”
“Vervain!” Trevor came running down the hallway, wolves parting for him. “They're in here,” he waved us down towards the dining hall.
We all rushed in, but I stopped short as soon as I entered. The dining hall was full of gods and wolves. My sons by Odin were there, Vidar and Vali, and so was Vali's birth mother, Rind. The giantess nodded to me grimly when I stepped to the center of the gathering. To Vidar's left stood Thrud, Thor's daughter by Sif, but Thor himself was nowhere to be found. Thrud kind of hated me, and gave me a look which was not at all surprising.
Also in the group was Freya, Freyr's twin sister, who gave me a much more welcoming, if still somber, look. Beside Freya was a tall man with platinum blonde hair, who looked enough like her for me to surmise that he was some sort of relation.
“Vervain,” Odin nodded to me. He was wearing a gold helmet, a cape made of chain mail, and in his hand, he held Gungnir, his spear. When did he get all of that? His spear was in Pride Palace's armory, last I looked. “My head is clear now. Don't worry, we'll fix this.”
“Fix it?” a large god with pale skin and even paler hair, asked scornfully. “How? I have blown Gjallarhorn, and the dead have been given life. There is no turning back now.”
“Heimdall, I presume,” I said to the whitest man I'd ever seen (and I've seen a lot of pale people).
“Godhunter, I presume,” he said back.
“Yeah, good guess,” I confirmed. I was about to say more when the whole hall began to shake.
“Yggdrasil trembles!” Heimdall shouted. “Ragnorak is off its course! The fates will falter!”
“What is he shouting about?” I looked to Trevor.
“The World Tree is supposed to shake before Heimdall blows his horn,” Trevor explained. “The events are out of order.”
“Then what?” I asked him. “After Heimdall toots his little horn, what's supposed to happen?
“Loki steers Naglfar into the harbor, bringing the dead with him,” Trevor looked to one of the windows at the far end of the hall.
I followed his stare, but it was night in the Nine Worlds, and we couldn't see the harbor at the base of the hill which Fenrir's Hall perched on. But we could see lights out on the water. A ship was coming.
“Dad!” Trevor shouted and pointed to the window. “Naglfar!”
“Fuck me,” Fenrir growled, and then looked around to the gathering of gods. “We don't have time for any more planning. Just try not to kill anyone on our side... and try not to get killed.”
Fenrir started for the door, but Emma caught his arm. She didn't say anything, just stared at him with tear-filled eyes.
“I love you, Emma,” Fenrir whispered and hugged her quickly. “But I can't fight with you here. I need you to go back to Pride Palace.”
“No,” she started shaking her head.
“I will lose focus if you're not safe,” he said simply. “Do it or I will die.”
“Fen,” Emma sniffed and then hugged him. “I love you. Don't you dare die.”
Then Emma let go of her husband, and ran for the tracing room. Fenrir nodded, satisfied, and led the Froekn from the room. The gods followed, and I did as well. But Kirill caught me as we approached the door, and pulled me aside. My husbands, the Squad, and the Intare paused with us.
“Don't ask me to stay out of this,” I shook my head. “You know I can't. If any of you die when I could have saved you, I will never be able to live with it.”
“I know,” he said. “I vasn't going to ask zhat. I vant you to shift into dragon as soon as battle starts. Vill you do zhat for me?”
“Of course,” I hugged him. “I love you, Kirill.”
“I love you too,” he hugged me back, then slid me into Azrael's arms.
Then I went to Trevor, then Odin, and finally, Re.
“Lala,” Re whispered. “Don't worry, this will be over soon. I will protect us,” he winked at me. “And you'll help of course. There's nothing better than a dragon watching your back.”
“Nothing better...” I frowned, and then gave a gasp. “Except for two dragons.”
“What?” Re blinked.
“Arach,” I whispered as I searched the hall for a mirror. “Fuck, I don't have the herbs here.”
“What for?” Trevor asked.
“Arach said to mirror him if I ever went into battle,” I explained as I rushed towards the tracing room. “I'll be right back.”
My husbands gaped as they watched me run off, but Re understood, and he started laughing.
“She's gone to fetch the Dragon King,” Re told the others. “A damn faerie is going to help save the Nine Worlds. How fucking appropriate is that?”
“Since one helped to make it,” Trevor's words followed me out, “I suppose it's very appropriate indeed.
I traced back to Pride Palace, almost running into a bawling Emma, who was being comforted by Sam.
“No time to explain,” I waved at them as I jumped into the elevator. “Come on, come on,” I growled as the gilded cage shot up to the top floor. I ran into my dressing room, and ended up scattering a bunch of herbs in my haste to grab a handful of eyebright. I rubbed the herb clockwise over my vanity mirror. “King Arach of the House of Fire!”
After a few minutes, Arach's face appeared in the glass. He cast a worried look to his left, and shook his head before speaking to me. “Vervain, I know. You've told me already. I'm coming.”
And then he was standing before me.
“Holy hellfire!” I gave a start, and then threw my arms around him. “Thank you. Now we gotta go,” I grabbed his hand, and we raced back to the elevator. “Hurry,” I said to him as we raced into the tracing chamber. I kept hold of his hand, and pulled him along with me, through the Aether, and into Fenrir's Hall. “Got him!” I shouted as I ran back into the dining hall with Arach in tow.
The Intare parted to let us through.
“Good,” Odin nodded to Arach. “I'll show you our troops. Please try not to kill them.”
“I think I can handle that,” Arach smirked.
“It could get confusing from above,” Finn warned him.
“This isn't my first war,” Arach laughed, “not from above or below.”
“Fair enough,” Finn conceded.
We all rushed outside, headed around Fenrir's Hall, and finally out onto Vigridr, which turned out to be a massive field seeming to extend forever. Fenrir's island was practically a continent. I had expected to see a battle underway already, but instead, there was a steady line of large, armored gods climbing up the hill towards a smiling Fenrir. Someone had set torches into the shoreline, illuminating the grand ship docked there.
“It's Sutr,” Odin breathed a sigh of relief. “Not Naglfar after all.”
“What's a Naglfar?” Arach asked as our pace slowed considerably.
“Hel's ship,” Trevor gave Arach a grimace. “ That would be my Aunt Hel, not the place where Luke lives. The ship is made of the fingernails and toenails of the dead.”