by Sumida, Amy
“If she hasn't shut it off completely,” Trevor narrowed his gaze on the cage. “Why is it up here waiting for us?”
“Either she knows I entered her territory and has fled,” I frowned. “Or she knows we're coming for her and it's an invitation. Either way, it's bad news down there.”
“So we just walk away?” Fenrir shot me an astonished look.
“I didn't say that,” I glanced at him. “I just think we need to plan out how we're going to do this.”
“Okay,” Trevor nodded. “So we assume we're walking into a trap. Should we send our best warriors in first or keep them in reserve and just keep her distracted until we can pool our efforts?”
“Fuck this,” Fenrir was already in the elevator. He closed the door and hit the button. “I go first.”
“Dad!” Trevor made a grab for the cage but Fenrir was already descending with an evil grin on his face. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Trevor stomped around and then paced while he stared over the side of the hole.
We heard the elevator stop but it didn't start up again. The sounds of fighting were the only thing coming up the shaft. I looked around frantically as Trevor started to swear more, and finally found the controls to bring the cage up again. I hit the button and the sound of gears shifting came from a mechanism in the corner. It was coming back up but I didn't know if we'd be in time to save Fenrir.
Normally I wouldn't worry for Fenrir, he's amazingly strong and has survived countless years of pursuit from gods who wanted him dead. He could take Demeter on, no problem. But we were in Demeter's territory and both of them were angry enough to make killing a fellow god possible. The odds were at least even, if not leaning in Demeter's favor.
Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, the cage was back up. Trevor immediately entered but when I made to follow him, UnnúlfR stopped me with a hand on my arm and a shake of his head. I was about to protest, when he spoke. “It's my father down there.”
I nodded and stepped back. I knew all about the ties of blood. It would be cruel to prevent a son from going to defend his father but that didn't make it any easier for me to let my lover go down there without me.
The elevator lowered once more, Trevor holding my gaze for as long as he could, before he was beyond my view. I didn't walk to the edge and peer over, all you could see was a shaft barely bigger than the cage, going down through raw earth. Instead, I waited, listening carefully for the sound of the machine stopping. As soon as it did, I hit the button to bring the cage back up. I was going next, no matter what.
I jumped in and Ty, Trevor's other brother, went in with me. He gave me a grim look and flexed his shoulders as we went down into the ground. He'd taken off his shirt and jeans, leaving only his boxers on in preparation for his shift. We wouldn't have fit if he'd shifted first, another limitation of Demeter's devious elevator. He'd have to hope for an opportunity to shift when we got there.
Growls and screeches greeted us as we descended but the volume of the sound was nothing compared to what I'd been expecting. Someone was down already, I knew it. I reached for War and Victory, the clang of swords and the shine of gold filling my head as the magic gave me added strength and upped the chances of us winning. Unfortunately when you fought gods, even victory magic didn't guarantee you'd win, but it did help.
I shifted my hands into dragon claws just as the elevator touched ground, so Ty had to open the door for me. The sight in front of us made my stomach drop and had the both of us running in opposite directions.
Ty ran to Fenrir, where the Wolf God was unconscious and buried beneath a lot of rocks, and I ran over to Trevor, where he stood over the prone body of UnnúlfR. Demeter was resplendent in her golden Atlantean armor in front of him. Obviously prepared for us, she was holding Trevor at bay by radiating heat onto him. Trevor was drenched in sweat and shaking, the small room we were in was quickly becoming an oven.
I leaped for her, taking her to the ground and breaking her concentration. She smashed her gauntleted fist into my face, breaking my nose with a crunch that echoed through my head and releasing a tide of blood down my chin, but I held tight. She pulled back, trying to keep her face out of the way, and I laughed.
“Afraid of a little blood?”
“Not at all,” she spat. “Just don't want to catch anything. Everyone knows what a little slut you are.”
“Why is it always that insult?” I shook my head, splattering blood all over her like a dog shaking off water, as I leapt to my feet and kicked her while she was down. Yeah, I kick villains when they're down. I never said I was an angel, only that I slept with one. “Can't you guys come up with something better than I'm a whore? It's boring really.” I tried to crush her head with my boot but she rolled out of the way at the last second.
“Don't worry,” she laughed as she jumped up, “you won't be bored for long, dead people don't feel boredom.”
“Oh, now see,” I nodded with approval. “That's much better but I've met several dead people and I have a feeling you're wrong. Balder definitely seemed bored right before Hel turned him into a tree.”
“Balder was turned into a tree?” She stopped and stared at me.
Demeter had aligned herself briefly with Odin's son, Balder in an effort to defeat me but it hadn't worked out. Loki had killed Balder and now Balder was in Hel's territory, one L not two. Technically he was in Niflheim, one of the two Norse territories which provided afterlives for those of the Viking persuasion, but whatever.
“Yep,” I punched her in the gut, right where her breastplate ended, and tore my claws up into her ribcage, behind her armor. “I don't recommend pissing off Hel.”
Trevor had recovered from his heat stroke and was at my back, waiting for an opening as I pushed Demeter further and further down the hallway that was connected to the elevator room. He would have jumped in when I pulled back but Demeter used the chance to turn and make a run for it, dripping a trail of blood over the white marble floor as she went.
“Damn it,” I swore as I heard the elevator touch down once more behind me.
I hadn't heard anything from Ty, so I had no idea if Fenrir and UnnúlfR were okay but I didn't have the time to go check. Fenrir would want me to pursue Demeter no matter what was going on with him, so I did. Trevor ran beside me in his werewolf form, having finally gotten a chance to shift when I was keeping Demeter busy. I considered shifting into a lioness and my magic tingled inside me at the thought, but I didn't know what to expect in Demeter's underground lair and I decided it was safer to remain human for the time being.
Suddenly the hall opened up and we stopped short to stare. It was surprisingly bright underground. Light filled the whole of the massive chamber as if it had its own sun. It illuminated the numerous gardens, villas, and pools that spread across the ground without any trace of its source. The ceiling was covered in plant life, none of it glowing, although it was very pretty. So where the hell was the light coming from?
There were several buildings spread across the expanse but mainly the underground chamber was filled with plant life, intricate gardens filled to overflowing. All the buildings were ancient Greek, done in white marble and adorned with statuary, but the gardens were an assortment of every type you could think of. From Japanese tea gardens, with carefully pruned pines and curving bridges over ponds filled with koi, to jungle-like areas kept restrained only by large marble walls.
There was a wild English garden to my right with a trellis covered in roses, and lavender growing out of its bed in disarray. Next to it were manicured hedges outlining a more Victorian themed lawn with restrained flowers set in defined squares. Next to that was a desert landscape full of cacti, and then Moroccan gardens with a tiled fountain in the center of it. It went on an on, gardens of all varieties, leading towards a Greek palace in the center of it all.
The white marble monstrosity sat like a Queen among her courtesans, all paths leading to her. It had a long veranda with tall columns supporting an angled roof inset with a fresco of D
emeter. Set back in from the veranda, the palace split into two levels, the upper edged with a balcony and the lower set with a golden door in the center of it. The veranda widened outwards into a half-circle with steps leading down from it, and at the base at both sides of those steps, were two immense statues, one of Demeter and one of Persephone.
Demeter raced along the white path before us, heading straight for the palace. She was completely healed since she was a harvest goddess and they tended to have a quicker recuperation time than the rest of us. The recuperation must have applied to hair as well because her golden locks flowed out behind her, as long as they were before I'd chopped them off. She glanced over her shoulder at us and her face paled. Then she put on an extra burst of speed.
I looked behind me and wasn't surprised to see Azrael there, his wings were down but even though, I could just barely see Fenrir and UnnúlfR behind him, both were a tad dirty but otherwise unharmed. I smiled in relief but wasted no time in pleasantries. I got myself in gear and ran after Demeter. The men raced behind me, more Froekn and Intare coming in behind them, until we were all running in a mad dash through the most magnificent collection of plant life I'd ever seen.
My nose was filled with the heady mix of a myriad of blooms and ripe fruit overlaid by fecund earth and the clean scent of green growing things. Branches hung out beyond the boundaries of several types of walls, into the walkway as if they were trying to impede our progress, but I kept running, brushing them out of my way without a thought. Then they actually were trying to stop us.
A tree branch bent down and knocked me back into an iron fence. I gasped as other plants came to life and began battling everyone else. I looked ahead and Demeter smiled back at me, waving her fingers in a sassy way more appropriate for a fifteen-year-old girl than a goddess, before turning around and continuing to flee. I cursed and got to my feet, cutting back the attacking plants with my claws as the others pretty much did the same. All except Azrael who was using his scythe in a way that was probably not religiously approved but worked really well with foliage.
We trimmed enough back that we could make a run for it, now knowing to beware of the plants as we continued to chase Demeter. She had managed to gain quite a distance on us with that latest trick and we could only watch with horror as she reached the palace and ran up the steps toward thick vines that fell down from the ceiling. They lifted her up like an acrobat with Cirque du Soleil, to the opening of an air shaft.
Before I could start screaming in frustration, Azrael sailed past us overhead. Both the Froekn and Intare started shouting in encouragement as we ran along beneath him and it looked as if Demeter was as good as caught. Except just as Azrael was reaching the air shaft, another vine snaked out of the plant covered ceiling and wound tight around him, holding him back as Demeter was lifted up into safety.
Azrael's wings fluttered, beating at the vines like a moth against the side of a lantern. I watched helplessly as one of the vines snaked around his neck and tightened, his hands tearing at it, pulling it away only to fight the next vine that took its place. He was soon overwhelmed, covered in thick, glossy vines which writhed about him like snakes.
“Azrael!” I screamed as I ran.
The vines suddenly released him and Azrael began to plummet to the ground, unconscious. I screamed and ran faster but it was Kirill who reached him in time, catching my fallen angel as if he were no more than a feather pillow. He carried Azrael back to us as I continued to run forward, meeting them halfway. I caught up with them and my hands went immediately to Az's face.
“He's fine, Tima,” Kirill reassured me. “Zere ve go,” Azrael's eyes fluttered open and Kirill put him on his feet carefully.
“Az,” I looked him over, watching as the bruises from the vines disappeared.
“I'm okay,” Az frowned up and over his shoulder at the opening Demeter had disappeared through. “Thank you for the catch, Kirill,” he looked back at Kirill and they exchanged nods. “I'm sorry to have failed you, Carus.”
“It was a valiant effort,” Fenrir had come up behind us. “Thank you for trying.”
“So what now?” I grimaced and took the hands of both Kirill and Azrael as I looked up at Demeter's statue. Trevor came up beside us and then wandered further up onto the veranda.
There was no point in rushing now. Fenrir had sent a group of wolves racing back to the surface in a last ditch effort but he stayed behind with us, knowing as well as we did that it was in vain. The plants at least had simmered down now that their goddess was gone but there was an obvious feeling of frustration permeating the air.
“We can set up a guard at the tracing building,” I suggested as I tromped over to the steps of Demeter's palace. “We'll catch her if she comes back.”
“We'll have to leave more than one,” Fenrir griped. “You saw what she can do against just a few of us. What she did to me.”
“We've been a little too focused on finding her,” I nodded. “We never stopped to consider what we'd do if we actually did. Find her, that is. Maybe we should search the palace,” I waved an arm back toward the massive building. “We might luck out and learn something useful.”
“Alright,” Fenrir nodded and called some Froekn forward to help us as Trevor, Az, Kirill, and I went on in.
I let go of my men as I wandered through the wide hallways of the palace, glancing through richly appointed rooms that kept to the Greek theme. It was all very vibrant, a lot of rich fabrics and chaise lounges with several indoor fountains bubbling away merrily, but nothing jumped out at me as a personal space where she might keep important information.
Then upstairs, I found a more modern looking room. An office, with a sturdy wood desk, silk carpets, and bookshelves filled with books. It had access to the balcony at the front of the palace and was afforded a dramatic view of the underworld gardens. I disregarded the view and sat in the chair behind the desk, where I started rummaging through drawers as the guys searched the rest of the room.
Pencils and pens, scissors, tape, all your standard office detritus. Then I found the files. In a bottom drawer, stuck neatly in hanging folders, were files on me and the Froekn. I pulled them out slowly, unable to believe I'd actually found proof of Demeter's persecution of me.
“Damn Dementor,” I hissed as I spread the files out on the desk.
“What's that?” Trevor came over to see my find, along with Kirill and Azrael.
“Folders on all of us,” I handed Trevor his file. “Looks like she's had us followed. There's pictures of me at the grocery store, the mall... Ross,” I looked up in shock. “I can't even shop for some savings without being spied on.”
“She has my Moonshine schedule here,” Trevor flipped through pages, the folder looking small in his werewolf paws. “As well as Ty's.”
“She has information on all the Froekn,” Azrael was flipping through pages in yet another folder. Here's one on Fenrir, and... whoa, that's me.” He held up an 8x10 glossy of himself, leaning against the outside of my house.
“I remember that,” I reached for the picture and he handed it over. “I was picking oranges in the front yard and you were keeping me company. We went out to dinner afterward at-”
“Morton's?” Az held up another picture of the two of us at dinner.
“What the fuck?” I took that from him too. “This woman has no life. This is a really nice shot of you though,” I held up the picture of him at my house. “I think I'll frame that.”
“You're going to frame a picture of me?” Azrael gave me a goofy grin.
“Seriously?” Trevor gaped back and forth between me and Az. “We've got fucking spy folders on us here and you two are getting googly eyed over one of the surveillance photos?”
“That's a pretty nice shot of you right there,” I pointed to one in Trevor's pile.
“Really?” He looked down and grinned, “yeah it's kinda- damn it, Vervain! Stop that.”
I laughed and grabbed the picture from him. When I did, a note slipped
out and fell on the desk in front of me. I frowned and picked it up. It was hand-written and short.
“Your order is ready,” I read aloud, “and it's signed M.A.. What the hell is this?”
“Order?” Kirill took the paper from me and frowned at it. “Zat can't be good.”
“Let's just take it all with us,” I gestured at the whole lot. “Fenrir's going to want to see this too.”
“Yeah, and you'll be wanting to keep these aside,” Trevor handed me the two photos of him and Azrael.”
“Thanks,” I grinned and took them. “Did you find anything else?”
“Just normal stuff,” Trevor held up a picture of Persephone as a little girl. She looked just as she had in the memory I'd seen of her in the Aether. “Should we take this for Persephone?”
“No,” I frowned. “Put it back, this will all be hers if we kill Demeter. I think that's soon enough for her to be getting back pictures of herself.”
“Oh,” Trevor put the frame back on a shelf, “yeah, good point.”
“Did you guys find anything?” Max, one of the Froekn, poked his head into the room. “We've cleared out the rest of the place and the Valdyr wants to head out.”
“Yeah, we found something,” Trevor held up the stack of files. “Tell Dad we'll be right out.”
“Right,” Max nodded, his eyes on the folders, before he left.
We gathered it all together and went out to find Fenrir waiting for us in front of the palace with an eager expression on his face.
“What did you find?” He asked as soon as we were in hearing range.
“She's been spying on us,” Trevor held up the folders he was carrying.
“How many of those are there?” He frowned when Kirill and Az both held up a stack.
“A lot,” I motioned us forward. “We've got them all so we can look over them when we get back to your Hall.”
“Alright,” Fenrir looked grim but he turned and started walking back through the gardens with us.