The Battle Cry (The Guardians of Tara Book 2)

by S. M. Schmitz

  Sif rolled her eyes at the Irish gods then reached out for her son, a god who resembled his father with a large frame and rusty red hair, although he apparently didn’t share his father’s fondness for beards. “My faith is in your father and you. Bring each other home.”

  “I promise, Mother,” he answered. He kissed her cheek then nodded toward his father. “And I’m humbled that you chose me now. This is the biggest battle Earth has ever faced. I won’t let you down.”

  Thor placed one large hand on his son’s shoulder and smiled. “Magni, you never have.”

  Damn, Cameron sighed inside his own mind. Hard to believe how badly I wanted to kill this guy just a couple of months ago. How many gods do you think died at the Battle of the Gods that are like Thor, that got dragged into a battle they knew little about but came anyway because of their sense of duty?

  Selena rested her head on his shoulder and sighed aloud. I think that was most of them, love, which is exactly why I want to change the Games of the Gods.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thor tossed Mjölnir onto the hotel bed and gestured toward the open window. “I think I’m beginning to dislike this city as much as that Basin.”

  Cameron nodded smartly. “Once we wrap up ending Ragnarok, saving Sigyn, and preventing Huitzilopochtli from taking over the world, I’ll take you to an LSU game. It’s our biggest redeeming quality.”

  Thor nodded smartly, too. “They serve po-boys at your games?”

  “We’ll tailgate,” Cameron promised. “We natives might screw up a lot of things, but nobody can tailgate like us. Complete strangers will offer us food and drinks if we just walk around.”

  Cameron smiled at the giant Norse thunder god and pretended to size him up. “Well, maybe not you.”

  So Thor flipped him off. “I’ll bring my own food and beer.”

  “On the plus side,” Cameron told him, “we’ve only had to fight one giant snake here.”

  “Why would you say something like that?” Thor groaned.

  Cameron flinched and shook his head. “Pretend like you didn’t hear that.”

  “Is this really all they ever do?” London asked.

  “Pretty much,” Badb answered. “And somehow, we’re all still alive. If you think about it, that’s pretty remarkable.”

  So Cameron flipped her off.

  London grunted at him and turned her laptop around so he could see the screen. “Can you be serious for three minutes? I have…”

  “Hold on,” Cameron interrupted. He lifted his wrist to check the time. “Ok… three minutes. Go.”

  London glanced at Selena and asked, “How do you put up with him?”

  Selena gestured toward him and retorted, “Look at him.”

  London squinted at Cameron then sighed. “Conceded.”

  “You’ve just wasted twenty seconds,” Cameron told her.

  “Just look at the screen, Sun God,” London said.

  Cameron let his arm fall and sat in the chair next to London at the small table in the hotel room where the Guardians had gathered.

  “So Badb was right,” he said.

  “I love hearing that,” Badb interrupted. “Especially from you.”

  “Shut up, Old Crow,” Cameron pretend-warned. “The reindeer on Ellesmere Island probably miss you by now.”

  “Both of you shut up,” Selena really-warned. “For some reason, the Valkyries seemed convinced Xipe Totec is the one responsible for the outbreak, but he isn’t the only god associated with the plague. And this Chalchiuhtotolin seems like a pretty evil god… like the kind of god who wouldn’t hesitate to inflict the plague on an entire city.”

  “How the hell can you just read that screen and pronounce these names?” Cameron asked.

  “Cameron, your three minutes aren’t up,” London informed him.

  “But I’m being serious!” he protested. “How can anyone pronounce these names?”

  “Because there’s a pronunciation guide,” Selena responded. “Now focus.”

  “I’m focused,” he mumbled. “On another god whose name I’ll never be able to say.”

  “I should have asked for more than three minutes,” London sighed.

  “It wouldn’t have mattered,” Badb told her.

  “Conceded,” she agreed.

  “That’s it,” Cameron decided. “From now on, the river goddess is Chihuahua and this plague god is Totem Pole.”

  “That…” London grunted at him again then gave up. “Fine. I’m thinking Totem Pole is likely the one in Baton Rouge because Xipe Totec was in the Basin with the others, and we were just there. As part of Huitzilopochtli’s army… I’m assuming we can still call him Huitzilopochtli?”

  Cameron nodded. “Took some practice, but I’ve gotten used to that one.”

  London rolled her eyes at the young sun god but continued. “He’s well hidden. We can’t summon him or locate him, but we may be able to draw him out by challenging him.”

  “How?” Selena asked.

  “I think the Aztec army wants high-profile confrontations,” she said. “That’s why they’re slowly moving out of the Basin and attacking major metropolitan areas. And what scares people more than epidemics?”

  “Um… gods apparently,” Cameron argued. “Have you noticed the tanks and shit outside?”

  “Do you think they’d be here if some god like Chal… like Chihuahua showed up and threatened to flood the city?” London countered.

  Cameron shrugged. “This city has been flooded before. People here know how to survive floods and they’re resilient when it comes to weather-related catastrophes.”

  “Exactly,” London exclaimed. She leaned back in her seat like the argument was over and she’d emerged victorious.

  Cameron bit his lip as he thought about her position that Huitzilopochtli had intentionally chosen gods who could spread disease to launch his plans for… what?

  Selena gasped and looked up at him because he’d settled on a possibility that could be disastrous for gods and men alike.

  “He’s distracting us,” Cameron breathed. “He knows we’ll follow his path of destruction, and that means he’s free to do whatever he wants.”

  “Oh my God,” Nemain groaned. “What could he possibly be planning that’s worse than Ragnarok?”

  “An invasion,” Cameron announced. “Not of this world but of ours.”

  Selena paced the hotel room she shared with Cameron and twisted her long blonde hair between her fingers. She’d been promised Findias would be safe, but she no longer believed anywhere was safe for her aunt and mother. And Cameron understood her fear completely. He’d brought his parents to Murias to protect them from the hell being unleashed on Earth, and he may have put them directly in the path of the hell Huitzilopochtli had been planning all along.

  He’d even alienated his father in his attempts to save him and he’d likely damned him anyway.

  “Oh, Cameron,” Selena whispered. “What do we do? We can’t be in two places at once. He’s forcing us to choose: save Earth or save the Otherworld.”

  Cameron nodded and collapsed on the edge of the bed, covering his face with his hands. “Nemain went back to the Otherworld to warn the Dagda. At least everyone will be prepared.”

  “Prepared for what?” Selena cried. “Their deaths? Who can defeat Huitzilopochtli except you?”

  Cameron let his hands fall and exclaimed, “And you think the other gods we’re here with can take care of Loki and Totem Pole’s plague on their own? And what if London is wrong? What if Tyr and the Valkyries were right and its Xipe Totec and this Totem Pole guy out there? One in this city, and we’ll wake up tomorrow to find the plague has taken over in Lafayette or Houston or…”

  Cameron groaned and buried his face in his hands again. Selena ran her fingers gently through his hair and finished for him. “Or Austin?”

  “He’s so much like my father,” Cameron mumbled into his fingers. “If I go get him, he’ll just end up hating me, too.”

>   “Your father doesn’t hate you,” Selena argued. “And Logan won’t either.”

  “You don’t know what it was like growing up with him,” Cameron sighed.

  “No,” Selena agreed. “I don’t.” She sat beside him and held one of his hands between her own. She brought it to her lips and exhaled slowly. “I think we should get him anyway. We’re obviously being targeted, and we have to assume whomever betrayed us knows about your brother. For the time being, anyway, Murias is a lot safer than Earth, especially any city where we have friends and family.”

  Cameron tried to smile at her, but the pain around his heart was far too great. For the time being, anyway, Murias is a lot safer than Earth, especially any city where we have friends and family.

  “So this is it?” she asked. “We really have to choose which world we’ll surrender, don’t we?”

  “No,” Cameron replied. “It’s not our choice because the Otherworld doesn’t belong to us. Not really. We should get Badb and find out what the Dagda wants us to do. Then I’ll decide what to do about my brother.”

  “What am I doing in your room?” Badb demanded.

  “I didn’t mean get her now,” Cameron clarified.

  “Too late,” Selena responded with a shrug.

  “Get me for what?” Badb asked. Her gray eyes darted to the bed and she shook her head. “Never mind. I’m not into this sort of thing.”

  “Ew,” Cameron said. “Lobotomy. Or banishment. I’m going for banishment.”

  Badb snickered and tried to smile but failed. “What difference does it make anymore?”

  “Um… I don’t know how to answer that,” Cameron admitted.

  “You’re not supposed to have an answer,” Badb told him. “I’ll either lose my home or your families and billions of people will lose theirs. What kind of choice is that?”

  “Don’t sound so defeated,” Selena begged.

  An airy laugh passed through Badb’s lips and she cried, “And why shouldn’t I? There’s no prophecy this time to give me hope. There’s only a god who’s likely been planning his own coup for centuries while we were too busy focusing on all the wrong enemies!”

  “But that can’t be right!” Selena protested. “If Huitzilopochtli had been planning this since the first Battle of the Gods, the druid would have warned you.”

  “The timing is just a bit off,” Cameron objected. “Literally by a few years here on Earth. You keep guessing the first Battle of the Gods was about five hundred years ago because you knew what was happening in Europe, but I only pretend to be an idiot sometimes. You mentioned hearing about some long war ending between the Spanish crown and the Emir of Granada. That war ended in 1492, which means Cortez wouldn’t begin his conquest of the Aztec empire for another twenty-seven years. That was plenty of time for you to find a druid and learn all this stuff about us long before the Aztec gods had any reason to even worry, let alone plan an invasion of whatever world they thought they could get their hands on.”

  Badb blinked at him then looked at Selena and blinked at her.

  Selena just shrugged again. “He’s right.”

  “Why do you two know such random shit?” Badb asked.

  “Why did it never occur to you to Google any of this?” Cameron retorted. “Seriously, Badb. We should look for that fish of wisdom for you.”

  “Salmon of Knowledge,” Selena corrected.

  “Obnoxious asshole,” Badb reminded him.

  “Are we ever going to tell her why I actually summoned her or should we just sit in our room all night annoying the hell out of her?” Selena asked.

  “I am awfully good at annoying the hell out of her,” Cameron replied.

  “Agreed,” Badb interrupted. To prove her point, she folded her arms over her chest and the young beautiful goddess with fiery red hair shrank into a stooped old woman wearing a long black robe.

  “Finally!” Cameron cried. “Now where’s your sister? I want to see if I can get her to turn into an old woman, too.”

  Badb held up a bony, crooked finger and tsked him. “Not happening. You don’t annoy her enough.”

  “But she can do it,” Cameron said. “Good to know. I have a goal now.”

  “Badb,” Selena groaned, “please drop the old woman disguise. We don’t have time for you two to antagonize each other.”

  Badb lifted a thin shoulder at her. “Blame him. He distracted us.”

  “He always distracts us,” Selena pointed out. “That’s no excuse for you to be just as bad.”

  “Hey,” Cameron objected. “I don’t always…”

  Badb lifted a thin, gray eyebrow at him so he waved her off.

  “Fine,” he admitted. “But this is your fault now.”

  Badb’s normal laughter answered him as she dropped the appearance of the old woman who’d first appeared to the young demigods in Baton Rouge. “Sorry,” she claimed. “But I needed the laugh.”

  “We all did,” Selena agreed. “But Cameron and I think we should ask the Dagda for his opinion on what to do. We’re still only operating on a hunch here about the invasion of the Otherworld. Because we’re not entirely convinced Earth is just a distraction. Maybe it’s the consolation prize.”

  “The consolation prize,” Badb repeated. “For whom? Us?”

  “No,” Cameron replied. “For his non-Aztec allies. For gods like Loki. And probably Loviatar, but she’s definitely dead so I doubt she’s going to be sharing in the spoils.”

  “What spoils?” Badb asked. “By freeing Loki, they’ve unleashed the goddamn apocalypse!”

  “First of all,” Cameron said and Badb sighed loudly, “which god?”

  “All of them!” Badb yelled.

  “And secondly,” Cameron continued, ignoring the Irish war goddess’s outburst, “it’s not the apocalypse. It’s Ragnarok. Earth will still exist. Ask Thor. Most of the old Norse gods are supposed to die as will most humans, except for two who will repopulate the entire world, which sounds totally sketchy, if you ask me.”

  “It is totally sketchy,” Selena agreed.

  “Don’t encourage him,” Badb warned.

  A knock on their door cut off Selena’s “Or what?” retort. The Irish gods each stared at the door for a few seconds before staring at each other.

  “What the hell is Ukko doing here?” Badb hissed.

  Cameron held his hands up and exclaimed, “I didn’t do it.”

  “Me either,” Selena promised.

  “Would you three shut up and let me in?” Ukko called through the door.

  Badb opened the door and snapped, “We’re kind of busy, Thunder God. What do you want?”

  Ukko looked at Cameron and nodded toward the Irish war goddess. “Is she always in such a bad mood?”

  “Yes,” Cameron answered. “Sometimes I can even get her to turn into a crow. You just missed it. I had her turned into an old woman literally one minute ago.”

  “She’s way crankier when she’s an old woman,” Selena added helpfully.

  Ukko rubbed his eyes and gestured toward the window. “So it’s true then? The New Pantheon has been disbanded and NATO has essentially declared war on us?”

  “The President of the United States called us all terrorists, so yeah,” Cameron told him. “It’s kinda the same thing.”

  “This is madness,” Ukko mumbled.

  “Yeah,” Cameron agreed. “They don’t want our help and yet, we’ve got an entire city under quarantine because of an outbreak of the plague. The only person capable of doing anything about it is a goddess they’ve lumped together with suicide bombers and assholes who open fire on crowded nightclubs. If I weren’t painfully aware of how we gods can be misrepresented, I’d say let them have this world then.”

  “You’d…” Ukko stammered but Selena silenced him.

  “He grew up not trusting any of the gods, Ukko,” she said firmly. “That’s all.”

  Thanks, love, but you remember he’s psychic, right? Cameron asked.

  Then let him
go looking for the real reason you feel a bit more jaded than the rest of us right now, Selena offered. I won’t let him upset you over something we can’t even deal with right now.

  Cameron lowered his eyes and stared at the back of his hands. Selena ran her fingers through his hair again and kissed his cheek. The room grew uncomfortably quiet and Cameron wanted to think of some smartass remark just to break the awkwardness, but Badb spared him.

  “Ukko, we need to talk to the Dagda. It’s urgent. Please stay with London and Thor until we get back. They may need help before we can return to them.”

  “All right,” he groaned. “You do remember I promised Anita I was never leaving Findias again, right?”

  “You do realize you’re the one who showed up at our hotel room, right?” Cameron retorted.

  “I…” Ukko stammered again, but Cameron stood up and patted his shoulder.

  “It’s ok. I’ll tell your wife you’re busy in a hotel room with a young, pretty Greek goddess.”

  “Obnoxious asshole,” Ukko reminded him.

  “Undoubtedly,” Cameron assured him. “Good job on not trying to kidnap anybody for almost two whole weeks though.”

  Ukko grunted at him but if he had a better response, Cameron never gave him the opportunity to voice it. The Dagda’s palace materialized in front of the trio of gods as they prepared to ask the father figure of the Irish what world they were willing to lose.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nemain had already warned the Dagda about the possibility that Huitzilopochtli could be amassing his army to invade the Otherworld while providing distractions on Earth to divert attention away from his real motives. Cameron quickly supplied his additional guess that triggering Ragnarok wasn’t just the ultimate diversion but intended to clear an entire realm for the allies of the Aztecs.

  “I don’t understand,” the Dagda said. “Loki is supposed to die at Ragnarok, too. Doesn’t seem like much of a deal for him then.”

  “The legends don’t have him allying with a bunch of Aztec gods either,” Cameron argued. “Even prophecies can change when something completely unexpected enters the equation.”