by M. H. Bonham
But, at the same token, I didn’t like having a god just show up and go Godzilla on a city—in the Enchanted Forest or not—and attack a possible ally. Maybe not exactly an ally, but not quite an enemy. Fenrir felt like more of a frenemy.
I ran to help Fenrir anyway. Perhaps because I was an idiot, or maybe I just didn’t know what the Mayan god could do to him. So, I changed my avatar to full battle armor, conjured my battle steed, and rode into battle, holding a replica of my Vorpal blade.
Because being a badass is fun.
As I rode after Fenrir, the wolf grew big. I mean, really fucking enormous. He grew to the height of three stories, which was plenty big when it came to taking on a bunch of feathered serpents. Sure, Kukulkan had the advantage of being able to fly, but I didn’t figure on Fenrir’s ability to leap. A couple feathered serpents shot right toward the wolf. Before they could dive in their attack, Fenrir leapt straight up and snatched both of them in his humongous maw and chomped.
The serpents’ avatars melted and disintegrated before they had a chance of wrapping around him or sinking their venomous fangs into him. But just as he was taking out the two, two more feathered serpents attacked, wrapping their sinuous bodies around his neck and huge frame. So big was Fenrir that they could barely wrap around him. One of the serpents sank its fangs into Fenrir’s shoulder.
The Wolf of Ragnarok screamed in pain as the serpent injected its poison. I willed my steed to grow wings and we charged the serpents that attached to Fenrir. My steed was a bad ass battle horse. He was gray like Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax, because damn it, I was a wizard and I so wanted to be as cool as Gandalf.
I slashed at the coils of the feathered serpent who bit Fenrir. Two more serpents flew to meet me. Their mistake. I called up a ball of annihilation—my own invention—and shot it at one of the serpents that had its jaws open to bite me. The ball of annihilation slammed into the serpent’s mouth and the creature dissolved into nothing. The other serpent smashed into me and tried to take out my steed. The horse’s eyes glowed red and it snapped at the serpent with some very unhorselike teeth. The serpent dodged the first attack, but didn’t take into account the Vorpal blade. I sliced its head off with one blow.
All the while, Kukulkan hung back, waiting and watching. Three flying serpents attacked Fenrir and three more harassed me. I eliminate two with balls of annihilation, but the third was tricky and evaded my magic. It dodged several fireballs and even lightning strikes as I tried to kill it. But it vanished and reappeared with deadly intent. The flying serpent hit my steed so fast that I didn’t get a chance to block it. The razor sharp fangs ran through my thigh and into the mount. My mount shrieked as I screamed. Hot venom poured into my leg, and I fell from about fifty stories up. I twisted to see Kukulkan attack Fenrir.
And then I woke up screaming while clutching my thigh.
~ * ~
“Oh fuck, Ironspell! Oh gods…” Luna grasped me and pulled me up as I bled profusely all over the bed. The fucking feathered serpent had hit the femoral artery when it injected its venom and if the blood loss didn’t kill me, the venom would. Luna did the only thing she could think of. She lifted me off my feet, using her were super-strength and ran out into the hall, nearly kicking doors down. “Ironspell’s been hurt! Help!”
If you’ve ever heard a female were scream, you won’t forget it. It sounds like a deep howl with words that reverberate through your very bones. It jarred me enough to protest. “No…must go back…Fenrir…”
The doors opened up and my friends poured out. Nana glanced at the puncture wound. “Come on, bring him into my room.”
At that point, everything became hazy. I thought I heard Nana and Li’alla chanting something in Dark Elven while the others were circled around me with concerned looks on their faces…
~ * ~
I drifted for I don’t know how long, but I awoke suddenly back in the Enchanted Forest not far from where Fenrir was fighting Kukulkan. I groaned as my thigh throbbed mercilessly. I was lying on my back, looking up at the fight above me.
Fenrir had scrambled up one of the high rises and had his jaws around the lower part of the feathered serpent god’s neck. He clung to the concrete and cement with gigantic claws that looked more cat-like than canine. Kukulkan had wrapped most of his body around him, and its jaw clamped onto the thick neck muscle just behind the wolf’s ear. Fenrir was either immune to the venom or was very good at shrugging it off. The giant wings that kept Kukulkan aloft smacked the wolf as he tried to get out of the wolf’s mouth.
Feathered serpents’ venom is particularly excruciating, fast-acting, and lethal. The place where the feathered serpent had struck me looked like a nasty puncture wound about the size of my fist. I stood up slowly and that’s when my back and hips screamed at me. Were they broken?
A quick assessment told me that I hadn’t broken any bones, or I had somehow been magically healed. I stumbled forward, scooping up the Vorpal blade and…
~ * ~
…I screamed as Nana pushed my broken hip back in place. I stared wild-eyed at my however-many-greats-grandmother and then blacked out…
~ * ~
…And then I was back in the battle. I ran toward the building and ran right up the freakin’ side of the building better than Spiderman. At that moment, the feathered serpent that had poisoned me saw me. It swooped towards me to knock me off the building and probably finish me. At that moment, I leapt at it, slashing my Vorpal blade as I did so. The feathered serpent caught me with one talon, but my blade sliced through its neck. Black blood sprayed everywhere and I found myself once more in free fall…
~ * ~
…”Damn it, Ironspell, stay with us!” Elryn voice penetrated the haze. I looked up at her blearily and felt like sinking back into the Enchanted Forest. “What in the Nine Worlds is that black stuff?”
“It’s venom.” I heard Nana’s voice reply. She sounded tired. “I don’t know what from, but maybe Ironspell would know.”
“How did this happen?” Elryn’s voice sounded critical. “You were with him.”
“I was asleep on the foot of the bed.” Luna sounded almost like she was in tears. That got my attention. “He screamed and grabbed his leg. It woke me up and I saw all the blood…”
“Did you attack him?”
“Oh no! Never!” Luna swallowed a sob.
“Something attacked him, but it’s the wrong size to be a were bite. It goes straight through like a sword or a gigantic fang…” Tuzren said.
“There were no weapons other than the Vorpal blade and that hadn’t been used. I checked,” Duncan’s voice added.
Shit. How many people were seeing me in my tighty-whities?
I took a labored breath. “Kuk…Kukul…” I forced the words through my teeth.
“He’s saying something.” Luna’s voice sounded hopeful.
“What’s he saying?” Duncan asked.
“Sounds like gibberish.” Of course, that was Elryn.
“Kukul…kan. Kukul…” I tried to form the words through parched lips.
“Hang on a second…did he say Kukulkan?” Duncan’s voice came from beside me.
“You know what that is?” Nana asked.
“Yeah,” Duncan said. “It’s a Mayan god. Salazar could tell you more about it, probably.”
“Hey, Dude, just because I’m Hispanic doesn’t mean I know that shit.” Salazar spoke up.
“Seriously, Dude? My mom convinced me to take Hispanic studies on account of our ethnicity. The Mayans sacrificed people to Kukulkan at El Castillo in Chichen Itza,” Duncan said.
“Your mom? I thought you were gringo, man.” Salazar’s voice sounded skeptical.
“Mom’s maiden name was Lòpez, bobo. I got the blond from dad.”
“Oh.”
“So, what is this Mayan god and why does Ironspell have poison in him?” Elryn asked.
“Kukulkan means feathered serpent,” Duncan replied.
“Shit. That’s the poison,�
�� Nana said. “But we don’t know the remedy.”
“Try…drag…on,” I muttered.
“Good thinking. Thanks.” Nana patted my arm. I groaned.
“Oh look!” Luna spoke up. “I just texted Spaz at the Archive. He says Kukulkan’s venom can be counteracted with a bezoar…”
“Where in the name of Helheim are we going to find a bezoar…?”
“Tuz.” Surprisingly, my voice sounded clear. I opened my eyes but could see nothing, no doubt thanks to the venom. “Library.”
“On it!” I heard the demon fly away.
“How in the fuck did you meet up with Kukulkan?” Elryn asked, but I was already fading.
~ * ~
I arrived in time to find myself falling next to the feathered serpent that poisoned me. I grabbed onto the carcass and spun midair before launching myself toward the building where Fenrir and Kukulkan still fought. Fenrir had removed a hind leg from the building and was trying to scrape the serpent god from his throat. At the same time, Kukulkan scraped his talons down the wolf’s muzzle. It all looked surreal as I latched onto the building with my spidey-spell and started climbing towards them.
All the other feathered snakes lay on the road below us as festering carcasses. To my surprise, I saw actual scavengers gnawing at the bodies. I would’ve thought being in the Enchanted Forest meant that they’d just disappear as part of the code was no longer executed. But no. I leapt up toward Kukulkan and slammed my Vorpal blade into his wing, shearing it off. The feathered serpent god screamed and loosened his grip on Fenrir. That gave the wolf the opening he needed to bite through the god’s neck. With a sickening crunch, Fenrir chomped through the god’s spine and spat out the feather serpent.
I landed on the opposite building in time to watch the Mayan god fall lifelessly to the ground with a sickening squelch. I turned and looked at Fenrir, who was swaying on the building. His body shuddered and his claws retracted, and he tumbled towards the ground.
At that moment, I called upon a cushion of air—funny, since technically there was no air in the Enchanted Forest—and gently lowered him. I then climbed down to help the wolf.
The ground looked like a disaster area, with torn up buildings and bloody carcasses of feathered serpents everywhere. The wolf laid against Kukulkan’s carcass, panting, with pale gums and tongue.
He looked at me. “It’s the venom.”
“How…how did he do that? I was bitten too and they’re working to save me in RL.”
Fenrir nodded. “Thought so, you kept winking out.”
“You’re hurt…we need to heal you. Get you a bezoar…” The words were forced and frantic from my lips. It suddenly became very hard to talk. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “Where are you?”
The wolf shook his head. “Too many listening.”
I tried to conjure a Cone of Silence, but I was too weak. “Can you give me an idea?”
“My daughter knows where I am…” His voice grew faint and his avatar faded.
“Fenrir! Fenrir! The gods damn it!” I shouted, but my voice failed, and became feeble and shaky. I tried to move, but my avatar dissipated…
Chapter Seventeen
Fire ran through my veins as I screamed in agony. I awoke on Nana’s bed drenched in sweat and shaking with cold. No, I’m not proud to admit that I’m a complete lightweight when it comes to pain, but hell, with the blood loss, venom, and injuries, I was lucky to be alive. So I wailed like a banshee as the healing magic took hold and grounded me in my torn up, poisoned, and otherwise beat-to-hell, body.
Nana, or one of my guests, was kind enough to cover my lower half with a blanket. Okay, I’m not a prude, but come on. Having eight people standing around and looking at my junk was a bit unnerving. Right now, only Nana, Li’alla, Elryn, and Luna were gathered around me. Nana, Li’alla, and Luna wore robes, courtesy of the Tiny House. Elryn was still in her clothing—I was surprised she stayed clothed when she slept. Probably an old habit. The others were probably downstairs playing beer pong or something, which was just fine by me. I didn’t need a Valkyrie hanging over me like an angel of death; even though technically I survived my wounds, I didn’t want to show up in Valhalla with Odin annoyed.
So, as the healing took effect, I thought about Fenrir and the venom. Would Kukulkan’s venom kill the wolf? I couldn't imagine that a son of a god could be killed that easily. But the venom from that feathered serpent was horrific—I could imagine that the venom from Kukulkan would be ten times worse. But would it be enough to kill another god?
But was Fenrir a god? I considered that possibility. The difference between a Norse god and a Jotun was defined by actions and not by what we would consider race. Ymir, the first Jotun and Buri, the first god, were born from the same rime ice according to legend. Never mind that a cow came along and freed them.
But just about every Norse god was in some way either former Jotun or part Jotun. Hells bells, even Thor was half Jotun.
As I laid there panting and sweating from the toxin, Nana gave me cool sips of water with bezoar partially dissolved in it. The bezoar’s magical effects neutralized the venom, making it easier to breathe and calmed my shivering muscles. The pain slowly abated and I wondered how on Earth I actually survived this. But another part of me was wondering how in the hell Kukulkan and his brood managed to nearly kill me through the Enchanted Forest. It were as if both Fenrir’s and my bodies were inside the Enchanted Forest and not in RL. Sure, people could fuck with your brain if you were wearing a headset, but that had more to do with a feedback loop and control over headsets. You shouldn't be able to actually inflict wounds in the Enchanted Forest. Otherwise, shit just got very real.
Elryn looked at me, and for the first time I saw worry on her face. I expected Luna to be beside herself, which she was, but Elryn was normally a pretty cool customer when it came to magic shit. “Ironspell, what happened?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” I croaked out. My voice sounded raspy as I tried to speak. “When I fell asleep, I must’ve accessed the Enchanted Forest in my sleep. Somehow I met with Fenrir.”
“Fenrir? But you said it was Kukulkan,” Li’alla protested.
“Kukulkan and his feathered serpents attacked Fenrir and me while we were talking.” I slowly sat up and looked down at my body. I was drenched in sweat and blood, and needed a shower something serious. Blood still encrusted my leg where the feather serpent had bit me, but the skin was almost healed with a small line where the puncture wound had been. “Luna, sweetie, could you grab my robe?”
“You're not going anywhere,” Nana said, pushing me down.
“Sheesh, I just want to cover up,” I grumbled. “It's cold in here.”
“On it,” Luna said, and left to find my robe.
“How did Kukulkan injure you when your body was here?” Elryn asked.
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe some type of sympathetic magic we’re not aware of?”
Elryn considered it and shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Nor have I,” I admitted.
“What is this Enchanted Forest that you keep talking about?” Nana asked, looking puzzled.
I recalled that neither Nana nor Li’alla would know about the Enchanted Forest. “It’s a long story. It's an alternate reality using machines to create it.”
Li'alla stared at me. “Humans have created an alternate reality? I thought that was in the realm of gods, not mortals.”
“Well…um…Humans have created it with machines. A lot of machines. And it's not real—it’s virtual.”
“How is that different from any other reality or plane?”
I paused. “I don't know.”
For the first time, I wasn't sure what the Enchanted Forest actually was. I shouldn’t have been able to be hurt, but there I was with a hole in my thigh, venom in my veins, and blood everywhere. I felt weak from the loss of blood.
Luna returned and handed me my gray robe made of terry
cloth. It fell to mid thigh. I struggled to get it on, wincing and groaning as I did so. Luna usually let me figure things out for myself, but at this point, she helped me get my robe on without comment. “Thanks,” I said.
“No problem.” She flashed her teeth in a wolf a smile.
Li’alla cocked her head in puzzlement. “Can other species enter this Enchanted Forest or is it only limited to humans?”
“Actually most humans access it with headsets. Supes are able to enter it with their minds. The weres discovered that feature first, but we have two of the initial weres who discovered that: Spaz and Kira. And Spaz was one of the original designers.” Luna answered for me. “If you want, I can show you how to access it, yourself, when we have some time to do it. It’s pretty easy to do.”
“We need to find Fenrir—Kukulkan bit him.” I looked at Luna and spoke in pack mindspeak. He says you’d know where he is.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Nana pushed me back down.
I shook my head. “Let me get back to my own bed. The Tiny House will have cleaned up the blood.” I pushed myself up, nearly blanked out from the blood loss, and felt Luna’s strong paw beneath my arm, holding me up. In truth, I had been trying to keep her out of my problems when she was probably tougher than me on so many levels. Call me a chauvinist, but I really don’t like putting my friends in danger, especially if they’re women. Even putting Elryn in danger—who was so much more badass than anyone else I’ve known, male or female—made me hesitate. That is, until I come to my senses and realize she’d beat the shit out of me if she knew I was making concessions for her gender.
Despite growing up with a hippy hedge witch mom, I still held some pretty old fashioned notions about treating women, like opening doors for them and being polite. That isn’t to say that I didn’t swear around them or treat them like wilting wood sprites. It’s just I’d never hit a female, unless it was huge, badass, and/or trying to kill me.
There was one time when I did hit a potential date back in college, but only because she was trying to eat me, and not in the sexual way. She turned into a vampire, and let me just say it wasn’t exactly the Halloween I had hoped for.