Six weeks later...
The sun shone in my eyes as I stepped out of the svartalf compound. For the first week I tried to get home as often as possible but eventually the commute just became a hassle. I'd negotiated with my master to stay full time for six weeks in exchange for a few considerations like daily phone calls and deliveries of my medicine baths by Kara. Since he wasn't against my daily klurkor practice that had been basically all I needed.
These past six weeks had been insanely fruitful, despite not becoming a master smith by svartalf standards or even anything close I was still able to learn an incredible amount. I likened it to taking an intro to calculus class. I wasn't anywhere as proficient as someone who had studied calc their whole life, but since most human smiths were adding and subtracting I was a cut above the average.
Despite that, a month and a half of training wouldn't have been even remotely useful to me in the fight with Fenrir aside from my knife maybe, if I hadn't made a very interesting discovery down there. With help from my master, I had invented a method to reforge godsteel. By using that magic I'd been turning into constructs properly I could cast stable godsteel back into it's "molten" state, allowing me to combine smaller piece into larger ones. Of course nothing is free so the larger the piece the more energy it took, but it was still a game changer.
Combined with something my master called "Ancestral teaching" which enable him to sort of meld with my consciousness to guide me (svartalves used it to train children when they first started so they wouldn't accidentally injure themselves but could still gain skill) we'd spent the last month of my training on a project. The combination of skills enabled us to work together to make an amazing suit of armor that I couldn't have managed on my own with a thousand years of practice.
My master poured every ounce of his skill and experience into the creation and mobilized the entire council of elders to enchant the thing. He said to think of it as a greeting gift for my apprenticeship, but I suspect it was a combination of wanting Fenrir dead, liking me, and wanting a chance to work on something truly amazing. Despite the immense amount of power and resources poured into it however, full plate was out of the question, I didn't have nearly enough power to recast a piece that big.
The new armor was a suit of lorica segmentata, enchanted by the best of the svartalf race to create truly unique artifact that they considered to be one of the great wonders of the world. Aside from the armor plates of godsteel my master had contributed his own meager supply of olympian bronze which he forged into the metal as tracework and to fill in the runes on the enchantment. The final product was a black and gold masterpiece that looked like a fusion of roman and viking armor that belonged in a fairy tale.
Master Brokkr was the only one in the clan who could even work olympian bronze (though the mordite alloy titanic bronze was beyond his abilities as mentioned in the books) and he swore it increased the power of the armor exponentially. Runes for strength, speed, durability and a dozen other powerful enchantments were woven into the powerful suit that would enable me to stand up to even the strongest enemy. With this thing I had a legitimate chance to survive a fight with Fenrir.
Unfortunately there was no such thing as a free lunch. Because of the composition and origin my Archangel Armor, as I'd named it (because I'd need to be a fully fledged archangel to wear the thing consistently) , required soulfire from my actual body to function. It drained the spiritual power of my soul at an absurd rate, and the set would be unusable outside my klurkor state's third form which meant I could only use it for a few minutes at a time before I lost my humanity and access to the klurkor state with it.
I stroked the masterwork in the bag at my side and climbed into the cab I'd called, thinking about all my girls waiting at home. I'd missed them terribly the entire time I'd been gone, even with the phone calls. With this new ace in the hole I was confident in fighting Fenrir as long as we worked together, and going forward my lessons with Brokkr would be on weekends rather than a live in apprenticeship. He'd been surprisingly amicable when I told him I wouldn't be living there anymore, and it was a pleasant surprise.
As the cab pulled up to the house I felt an invisble weight lift from my shoulders, aside from being super excited not to be pummeled by the Goddamn Stick (I'd officially given it a formal name and added the capital letters after the third week) it was just so nice to be back in my own space. There was something draining about being away from home, being back in a place you felt completely safe was just relaxing in a way that you couldn't feel when you were out and about regardless of your personal power.
I hiked the bag with the armor over me shoulder and climbed out of the cab, paying the guy with the little cash I kept on me and took in a deep breath as I stared at my house. As I stepped up onto the curb I head a deep bass woof and was barely able to brace myself as my now four month old tibetan mastiff puppy slammed into me at full speed, now much bigger than he had been when I left.
Luckily I was a pre angelic metal warrior so I was able to catch the pup and spin him around, cuddling with the enthusiastic form of Rumor as he tried his best to get to the tootsie roll center of my head. I laughed and sputtered as the puppy gave me a tongue bath and was so distracted I missed Max jumping clear off the ground and onto my head, which was substantially less charming now that the damn cat was the size of an air conditioner window unit. Despite the pummeling I was pleased to see them and I dropped the bag and tackled them to the ground, rolling in the grass and playing with the animals for a while.
I heard a feminine throat clear and rolled over with a grin to see Raven, Barb, and Cinder standing behind me. The sound had come from Barb who had an eyebrow raised "Gone for six weeks and when you get home your first order of business is to wrestle with the dog and cat. Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder." Raven rolled her eyes and came over to lean down to kiss me, and I swept her off her feet and rolled her onto the grass with the animals and I.
She giggled, a sound I never would have heard when we first met, and snuggled against my chest "It's good to have you back. And don't listen to Barb, she missed you like crazy. She's been burying herself in work with the company trying to stay busy." Barb stepped closer to try to poke Raven with her shoe and got pulled into the tangle of limbs with us, leaving a big pile of giggling teenagers on the lawn. Raven glanced up at Cinder, who was standing by quietly "What are you waiting for? We need help to pin him down so we can tickle him until he begs for mercy. He's too strong for us to do it alone."
Of course I wasn't trying to escape, but Cinder seemed happy for the excuse and pounced on me. Despite all the fun we did have to stop, this was a suburban neighborhood and people would bitch if we stayed out here rolling on the ground too long. I personally gave no fucks, but if Charity heard about it she would give me an earful, and even I feared the wrath of Mama Carpenter. We brought the animals inside and I sat down to get caught up on the last six weeks. We had a few days until our fight with the big guy so I wasn't really too rushed to tell them about my armor.
Kara, Morgan, Andi, Yang, and Sam came tromping through, giving me hugs and telling me they missed me and then they all sat down in the living room. Despite being so happy to be home I couldn't help but show off a bit. I showed them my godsteel knife, which I had named Snikt, because it was funny, and which I had managed, with the help of my master to put a sharpness enchantment on. I passed it to Barb, who I'd made it for anyway. Then, with the present out of the way, I showed them the most time consuming and powerful result of my time with the svartalves.
A hush fell over the room when I pulled out the Archangel Armor. Even having been in the room during it's creation I still found myself in awe of the iridescent black sheen of the godsteel and the golden polished luster of the olympian bronze. Even having seen it over and over I couldn't get past how gorgeous it was. It was like when you buy a new computer and for the next few months you just stop and stare at it sometimes because you can't believe you own something that nice. I displayed it with a flourish enjoying the looks of awe.
My grin was smug as I filled them in "And this is the armor my master and I made. It's one of the great wonders of the world, and I managed to make it in only a month and a half with help from a master smith. This is going to be our key to beating Fenrir. Even he can't stand up to me in this." I slightly embellished my own role in it's creation, but to be fair it would be impossible to have made it without me so I was the reason it existed. I could see the shock as Barb and Yang flipped on their magic eye spell and were almost blinded by the mastercraft artifact.
A familiar aged voice that made my skull ache rang through the room "Oh-ho, helped, did I boy?" I winced and turned around with horrified slowness to see my master standing on the other side of the open window. Outside the wards, he'd apparently popped the latch with the Goddamn Stick. I was kind of unnerved that thing had gotten through our incredibly sturdy defenses. At my look of horror Brokkr cackled like a witch "That'll come out of your hide during training boy, just you wait and see."
I cleared my throat "Master, what are you doing here? I said I'd come back on weekends and that I couldn't do full time training anymore." I pretended that my voice wasn't quavering as I addressed him, but I think I spoiled the effect by holding the Archangel Armor up between us like I could shield myself with it. That Goddamn Stick had traumatized me for life and I absolutely did not want to take a hit from it in front of my girl.
The vicious old man smiled and tossed a bag through the window to land on the floor. "Fool! I ignored you. You can't live at the compound fine, but I'm your master boy, and you will learn even if I have to beat it into your thick skull. Now come to the door and invite me in, then we can start designing your forge. I walked around your grounds and didn't see one here, which is unacceptable."
Naturally the girls decided to invite the old bastard in to stay. Luckily my abusive teacher preferred solitude and chose to retrofit the garage to his own liking. Apparently the girls were thrilled to meet him, with Raven and Cinder being excited to meet an experienced enchanter and Barb wanting to hear all about the amazing projects he worked on. Yang was trying to pump him for embarrassing information on me, which I'd kind of expected and Kara had brought out the Sword of El to show him, wanting an experience opinion on the object.
Morgan, Sam, Inari, and Andi mostly didn't care but they were happy to join in with the fun, leaving me dragging the bag out to the garage to clean the place up and set up a temporary abode for the vicious old elf. Having a detached garage like Michael's wasn't really useful to me before, since I could just use Harry's lab if I needed to work and he had better stuff, but since I had to make a forge anyway I might as well but my master out here. Besides, I wanted to sleep as far away from the Goddamn Stick as humanly possible.
Forcing the door to the garage open was harder than expected. Not because it was stuck so badly or anything but because as strong as I was I didn't want to smash any of the stuff behind the door into paste. Still after a few minutes of shifting I got into the place without too much trouble and flipped the switch set into the bare wooden structure of the garage. A single light bulb on a string flared to life, still swaying from the slam of the closed door, and casting a swinging shadow onto...so much fucking stuff.
I groaned. Right. This is where we dumped all of the inconvenient shit we couldn't find a spot for. Morgan and Sam had brought a fuck load of things with them when they moved in, but their rooms only had normal sized closets, so they just shoved the boxes of clothes and extra furniture out here. How the hell was I supposed to organize these in a way that would give someone room to live, plus we would need to put the forge in the back yard now, which would piss off the neighbors something fierce.
I stepped gingerly into the room, trying to avoid crushing any of the boxes that had been thrown in here like the worlds most annoying and space consuming game of jenga. It briefly reminded me of a scene from a TV show I'd watched once, and I started humming "Istanbul" by They Might Be Giants. As I began tackling the stack of boxes. I had mental images of summoning gales of wind or using my lightning speed to clean up, but the wind was a stupid idea because I had terrible control.
As for the lightning speed, metal fingers moving in bullet time are basically just bullets, and fragile cardboard is not bulletproof. Even my most delicate attempts would tear the boxes to shreds. So I was stuck picking up random boxes of similar size and stacking them in the corner one at a time. It took me two hours to get them all sorted into neat stacks that rose to the ceiling tapping into the very best of my admittedly mediocre tetris skills to make the best use of the space. By the time I was done I'd condensed the entire garage full of random clutter into single corner, leaving three quarters of
the space open.
Finally, covered in dust and even a few webs that were thankfully free of spiders (even with skin that can stop a knife those things freaked me out) I dragged myself back inside to let that ancient stick swinging menace know his room was ready. It occurred to me that absence really did make the heart grow fonder, when I thought I wouldn't be seeing him again parting with my master made me feel wistful, now I just wanted him to go far away from me with that Goddamn Stick.
Upon entering the house I was disgusted to notice that none of them even noticed I was gone. Yang was digging some story out of my master about one of the many time I accidentally spilled molten metal on myself (though he was neglecting to mention he was hitting me with the Goddamn Stick at the time) and the rest of them were laughing uproariously at my misfortune. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat "Master, I cleared you a space in the garage, but some of Morgan's stuff is out there so we can't use it for the forge."
My master turned to look at me disdainfully "My old bones have been here for so long and you've only just gotten around to clearing a space for me? What a sad thing it is to have such a lazy ungrateful disciple." I glared at him venomously, his bones weren't too old to swing the Goddamn Stick too fast for me to follow with my eyes. He was just playing the poor old man in front of the girls to garner sympathy.
Of course I couldn't say that, so I just forced myself to smile tightly "Sorry master, it was a bit messy and I wanted to clean up for you." Honestly it had occurred to me too late that I could have asked Kara to do it. She had a ton of practice picking things up gently at super speed, and would have been able to clean out the whole place in minutes. Of course the old man would have just bitched at me for not doing it myself anyway. He was just annoyed because I downplayed his role in making the Archangel Armor.
The old elf gave a humph of disdain and hopped spryly down from the couch (aching bones my ass) and pushed me aside to stroll out the the garage himself. I rolled my eyes again and followed him, at this point there was no real reason to pout, staying angry would just ruin my day, he was here to stay so I might as well just let it go. I trailed behind him helplessly, with the girls following me as he strutted across the back yard and to the door of the garage. There were no boxes in the way this time so the door swung open with no difficulty.
He looked around the mostly empty garage critically, but I was surprised when he nodded. "This will do. I can prevent the boxes of Ms. Morgan's things from being damaged, we will set up the forge here." I was a bit surprised by his statement bu on reflection it wasn't exactly odd for a master enchanter and blacksmith to know some fire prevention runes. He turned to regard me casually. "Fool! Why are you standing there like furniture. Begin removing the forge from my bag and construct it. I can only enchant the precautions once it's been built."
I stared blankly at him for a minute, but faced with his impatience I just stalked across the concrete floor of the garage in a huff, muttering every curse I could think of. Despite how much I wanted to tell him to do it himself, I noticed his knuckles tighten on the Goddamn Stick so I had no choice. I pulled down the zipper on the army green canvas bag and opened it up before reaching in and pulling out...a metal hood for a coal forge. Or at least a few inches of it, I pulled and pulled and more and more of it came out.
I was damn lucky to have super strength or I'd have toppled over backwards when it came free. Even so I still stumbled around a bit to steady myself as I tried to regain my balance without tearing the roof out of my garage. I was able to barely fit it into the available space and managed to put it down before turning to glare at my master "You brought a whole forge here? No wonder that damn bag was heav-ow!" I yelped as a familiar pain shot through my skull, glaring at him, but decided to shut up and get back to work hauling his heavy ass metal working equipment out of his stupid bigger on the inside bag that I was totally going to hide and not give back.
It took me about a half hour to drag out all his crap, which turned out to be literally everything in that stupid hut of his, and put it all in position (by which I meant put it one place and get a Stick to the head before he told me where to move it to). In the end it was basically the same layout as his old place so I wised up an avoided getting hit most of the last half. Luckily this freed him up to start engraving runes on the concrete around Morgan's boxes and around the actual forge equipment.
As he carved the last rune around the forge itself the coals inside blazed to life. I'd always wondered why that thing never needed to be lit, guess it was magic. As we worked I managed to pick up the pace enough that I felt comfortable asking "Master, is it really worth coming out here? In all honesty even with the armor we aren't guaranteed to beat Fenrir, besides I would have come back. Why would you come all this way?" The elders never left the depths as far as I knew him showing up here was unprecedented.
I half expected to get hit for asking, but the response I got was even more jarring. Silence. The old man never shut up unless he was forging. When you asked a question he answered immediately, usually with some kind of insult or barb mixed in. Finally he spoke again "I've never taken a disciple before. As old as I am I probably never will again. You aren't untalented, and it would be a shame to see you feed the beast. I'll help you forge some armor for the rest of your women so you can fight without distraction."
I swallowed hard. That was...wow. I hadn't expected that. The old man was rough on me most of the time, I knew he was putting up a front but to have someone care that much about me was pretty touching. I knew that dwelling on it would embarrass him though so I just cleared my throat. "Thanks. I better get the last of this metal unloaded then. You'll need it if you're going to be making armor for the girls." I tried to keep the gratitude out of my voice, but I knew I sounded a bit stiff and he could tell, neither of us commented.
He'd brought quite a few supplies with him. With the extra gear we would be able to bring Andi and Inari this time, and it occurred to me that he might have been using the chat session inside to gauge who needed what. I wasn't sure if he knew which girl had the three armors they supplied but I wouldn't put it past him, he was pretty wily. Nine girls would be coming this time, so we needed six sets of armor. Harry and River had their own gear sorted out but I felt like I needed to provide for everyone who lived with me.
As the grouchy old elf started melting down steel and silver and a dozen other metals I couldn't help but smile. This was going to be the biggest fight of my life and his help might save some of the people I cared most about. I'd have to really bust my ass learning from him after this to make up for it. I silently promised that I would become skilled enough to make a masterwork artifact like the Archangel Armor all on my own, and when I did I'd make sure everyone knew who my teacher was.
After our little heart to heart my master kicked me out. He insisted he needed to concentrate on his forging. He had me send the girls out two at a time to be measured and then started up the forge to begin work. I asked about watching but he told me being introduced to certain concepts too early might confuse me and mess up my foundations. He'd seen many apprentice smiths end up ruining their budding style by incorrectly trying to repeat advanced techniques that looked simple.
Since the twins and Chastel had been dealt with, I decided to call a meeting about possibly getting the Alphas back from the island. Fenrir was interested in training Connor, but he had no beef with our local werewolf pack. It made sense to leave Tera and Connor there for now. Fenrir didn't seem the type to dodge a fight to go grab them, but at the same time if we lost our battle Demonreach might be able to contain him if he showed up on the island to chase them down.
Andi was, of course, the most excited at the prospect "That's amazing! Billy and Georgia must be going crazy out there, and they're the calmest of the whole gang. I'm just glad Tera is there with them. She always had a special bond with us because she taught us our magic, I'm sure they got some great training done. I'm just glad they're both in school full time. You can take time off classes, but most jobs would fire you." A concerned look suddenly crossed her face "Since they're coming back I dont-"
Raven cut her off. "You stay as long as you like Andi. We love having you here, and we have more than enough room. Just because the Alphas will be back in town doesn't mean you aren't still welcome here. Not to mention you can even invite them over if you'd like. This is your home for as long as you want it to be, and I know everyone else feels the same." We all nodded confidently happy to have Andi with us.
Andi's eyes started to tear up a bit "You guys. Thank you so much." The gratitude on her face was so intense it was almost heartbreaking "I don't know what I would have done this last month or two without all of you. Raven and Cam, you guys talked me through some of the worst experiences of my life. Barb and Morgan, you two have been a constant source of support. Inari, Yang, Cinder, Sam, you've made me feel nothing but welcome since I got here, and when I was in danger you guys moved heaven and earth to find me. Almost literally."
Morgan hurled herself at the pretty redheaded werewolf "Of course silly. You're our friend. We know you'd do the same for us." Despite her platonic words I noticed her eyes pale a little bit as she inhaled deeply while hugging Andi. She seemed to notice being noticed and flushed, pulling back with a cheery smile. "You can always count on us to be here for you. Isn't that right everyone?" The universal murmur of agreement set off a wave of group hugs that even I got sucked into.
It was nice to feel that kind of warmth and connection with everyone. Even the girls I wasn't dating had been here so long we'd become pretty damn close and they would definitely go to bat for me. It was the same on my side, I would absolutely kick someone's ass for trying to put their hands on one of my girls, girlfriend or roommate. I didn't say that out loud because the term sounded a little possessive but deep down I knew it was still accurate. These were my girls, the closest thing I had to family in this world.
Luckily we owned a boat still, so were easily able to make the trip whenever we wanted. We drove together to the lake, Andi coming with us, and I briefly remembered that she had no idea what she was walking into. I turned to the redhead in the back seat (I'd gotten shotgun because I called it fastest, thank you lightning aspect) just to warn her. "So Andi, just to let you know, the place we're going isn't...really very pleasant. But it's friendly to us so despite how terrible it feels there you don't need to worry."
We were in the Suburban, which Kara borrowed from Charity so we could all drive together, and Harry was in the third seat back. I'd insisted he come because it was Raven's first visit to the island and I was a bit worried about Demonreach deciding she was an enemy because of her lineage. My brow creased in worry "Speaking of which though, are you sure you can handle this Rae? The native emotional ambiance is awful and you'll be getting it from all of us too. That's a lot of shit piled on one person."
She sighed "I won't say I'm not nervous about it, but that's why Kara and Cinder are coming. We talked about it while you were getting Harry and between the two of them they should be able to manage me well enough to get me off the island and prevent me from going haywire. I'll step onto the beach and try to get accustomed and if it's too much we'll get me out of there. I'm much more stable than I've ever been however and my kurkor practice has strengthened my demonic blood. I get my empathy from my mothers side so that actually helps."
I was glad they'd made some preparations. Kara, Cinder, Harry, Raven, Andi, and I were the only ones going on this little excursion. Yang had wanted to check in on Bea and we felt like bringing the vampires was a needless risk on top of Raven's first trip out there. In the books Lara hadn't seemed affected, but exposing psychic vampires to insanity inducting emotional miasma long term just seemed like a poor life decision.
The trip to Demonreach was relatively normal as these things went, it was around late August now so it wasn't too cold, but the water tended to exude a bit of chill of it's own so it wasn't sweltering not to mention as we got closer to Demonreach there was a sort of metaphysical frost in the air that I jokingly remarked to Harry we should market as air conditioner. My mentor smiled at the comment, but his heart wasn't in it. I knew coming to Demonreach weighed on him, especially given the stark contrast between the place and the warmth of his home with his girlfriend and new baby.
I stepped up next to him as the island loomed in our sights, further than it appeared because of the constant changes of direction needed to dodge the reefs and rocks beneath the waves. I cleared my throat to get his attention"Hey boss you ok? I just realized we haven't been in touch in weeks and even before that I kind of took for granted you were good. All this crazy must be more terrifying for you than anyone. With Maggie here and with the city being in danger. It's cool if you don't want to talk, but just remember we aren't just apprentices, we're friends. We can handle ourselves well enough for you to feel ok sharing if you need to."
Harry's laugh was halfway between relieved and self mocking. "I shouldn't need to lean on you all. I'm the boss, I'm supposed to protect all of you, but I've been so thoroughly outstripped in the power department that I can't keep any of you safe. I watch you run off to fight insane werewolves and serial killers that I couldn't touch with a ten foot pole and all I can do is teach you a few minor spells. The least I can do is not add to your worries with my insecurities. You guys deserve better than that."
I blanched. Jesus, how had I missed that? How had Raven? But looking back, Raven didn't have so much time around Harry in crisis situations. He tended to spend most of his time with Yang and Barb and I. I tried to keep my tone level despite how weirdly pissed off I was at his idiocy. "That's bullshit man, and you know it. What would you say if one of us said some shit like that? You're our teacher and our friend. You have our backs even in crazy situations you have no part of and you gave us the tools we needed to get as strong as we are today." The mere idea of him questioning how much help he had been to us was insane.
He opened his mouth to respond, a doubtful look on his face but I cut him off. "No, shut up. It's my turn to talk." His expression shifted to one of surprise but I ignored him and continued "I have seen you mouth off to faerie queens and demon lords. I've watched you tell literal servants of the gods to fuck off. You more than anyone know that power isn't everything. With all the shit you've faced that was stronger than you and survived, how can you possibly question if you have more to teach us? Life isn't math Harry, you don't subtract your enemies power from yours and see if there's anything left. You know better than that."
My voice was raw as I kept talking, exposing a bit of my own insecurities from when I'd first gotten here "I get how much it sucks being the low man of the power scale. When the girls and I landed here I was always the weakling, I was the anchor dragging everyone down. You're one of the strongest wizards in the world, imagine being an eighteen year old kid with no powers at all watching these amazing beautiful girls who care about you run into crazy situations and being able to do nothing. I've been that guy Harry, and that's not you. You're forgetting your role. You're a wizard, the wise man. Punching shit isn't your job."
He chuckled at that. "I guess I hadn't though of it like that. I'm so used to being the thug who gets things done in the magic world. I guess being the wise old mentor isn't so bad though. Especially with students like the three of you. The things you all have accomplished in the year and a half or so you've been here have been awe inspiring. I'm proud to be part of that, don't ever think I'm not. But you're right, I'm so stuck on the mental image of myself as the maverick loner wizard I was missing all the good things in my life. Things I owe to you and the girls. Don't think I've forgotten."
I flushed a bit at that. Despite all my powers Harry was still my hero. I grew up reading those books, and Harry hadn't disappointed when I met him in person. He was every bit as larger than life (no pun intended) in reality as he was on paper. Maybe more so. "Anything you owe us we owe you twice over. We'd be nowhere without your teaching. Or possibly just dead. But we don't have to count favors between us. And you don't need to hold back when you're feeling pressured. We're family. I've always said, family means never having to say thank you. But it also means saying "you're welcome" in a sarcastic voice when someone doesn't."
Harry burst out laughing at that, which had kind of been my intent. Though that actually had been a philosophy I'd espoused for my whole life back on earth. He clapped me on the shoulder as he steered the boat past the last few submerged rocks and pulled us up to the dock Tera had made. "Well said, kid. I guess having family is something I'm not really used to, but I'll try to share a bit more of how I'm feeling. You're right, you guys can handle it."
Stepping onto the beach this time was even more nerve wracking than the first time. Despite the spirit of the island being on good terms with us now I couldn't help but worry about Raven. The thought of her getting captured was only mildly more disturbing than her torturing herself into insanity with the concentrated madness and hate of all the people who had died here and the monstrous creatures interred beneath the earth of the island.
But she was Raven, she was my rock, and if she said she could handle it I couldn't do anything but have faith in her despite my worries. She'd more than earned that by showing me that same faith more times than I could count. Besides, I could see from her furrowed brow that she was starting to have second thoughts now too. I knew she wasn't really rethinking, she'd been sure when she spoke up earlier, she was just letting her nerves get to her.
I stepped up onto the deck next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. The unnatural chill in air was just another reminder of all the ways this place ignored the normal rules, and she snuggled against me to block out some of the cold. I looked down into her face, and despite knowing she could feel my emotions I chose to speak my mind " You said earlier you were confident you could handle this. I believe you. You can do this, anything you feel right now is just you losing your nerve, its perfectly normal."
She swallowed hard and leaned her head against my shoulder, staring off into the forest of the island. "I'm not so sure. I underestimated this place. I can feel the hate and rage and unnatural hunger in the air even without so much as touching the sand." She stared down at the sand of the beach as if it was going to bite her. I frowned for a second and swept her up in a princess carry. Sh squeaked "What are you doing?" Her face flushed slightly lilac, which it hadn't done in a while and I had really missed. She looked so pretty when she blushed.
I laughed but didn't jump down. "You can clearly keep yourself in check from this distance, so if you're worried about touching the earth here I'll just carry you. Problem solved. I considered throwing you over my shoulder and dragging you off to my cave but this seemed more dignified. I figured I should carry you like a lady so you could maintain your image as a wise and glorious sorceress in front of the others." My expression melted into a serious one "I believe in you Rae, I think you can handle this, but part of being in a relationship is supporting you in anything, if you're that worried then leave it to me."
Her soft smile was fond, but at my words she raised an eyebrow. "I suspect I would come across as more dignified if you didn't have a hand full of my right ass cheek. But regardless the thought is appreciated. Are you sure you can carry me across the entire island? I really can try walking if it's a problem." She glanced down nervously and bit her lip while trying to look firm and fearless. I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her, I pressed our lips together for several seconds and pulled back. Raven's eyes were still closed as I pulled away.
I hopped down off the deck while she was still dazed from our kiss, but I bent my knees to attenuate the force so she barely felt it. "Well it's a nice ass, I couldn't resist. And I could literally carry you for days Rae. First off you aren't heavy, second of all I have super strength. Thirdly lactic muscle doesn't build up in metal arms and builds much more slowly in muscles threaded with godsteel. I can carry you as long as you need me to. And yes I meant that metaphorically and literally at the same time. Now, how are you feeling?"
She smirked "Well aside from the fact that 'don't worry honey, of course I can carry you, I have superstrength' probably isn't the endorsement you think it is I feel ok. Something about being in your arms makes me feel safe. Which might be sentiment or might be the incredibly dense network of divine metal infused with your actual soul running through your body." She leaned up to give me another kiss, darting her head to the side after to whisper in my ear " By the way, I like your ass too." She reached around behind my back to cop a feel and I laughed.
I leaned up over my shoulder to shout to the other "Yo, what's the hold up? Cool kids are waiting here. This isn't a party nerds, you don't get any style points for being late." Harry came out rolling his eyes and hopping down, with Andi following behind, giving Raven and I a smirkas she took in our lovey dovey appearance. Cinder and Kara were close behind with Cinder smiling softly and Kara rolling her eyes at our position when she saw my hand on Raven's butt. "There you are, come on, mystery awaits."
Harry laughed at my enthusiasm, between the denser godsteel acting as an insulator and an arm full of a beautiful woman who loved me I wasn't feeling the pressure here like I usually did, and he could clearly tell. "Glad to see you're in such a good mood, but the point of bringing me was that mystery does in fact, not await. I know where everything on this island is at all times as long as I want to know, so a boring walk through creepy woods awaits. Luckily they're all up at the cabin which is a closer heading than the clearing they were in before." He pointed in a random direction that apparently marked our destination.
I wanted to bow theatrically and gesture him forward sarcastically, but I had and arm full of big titty goth gf so i decided to just nod towards the woods and step back. As we set off for the cabin I couldn't help but take in the surroundings. Without that fathomless pressure that constantly weighed on me when coming here this place seemed kind of pretty. The trees still had a dark and gloomy air to them but they seemed more melancholy than ominous without the dark miasma casting the place in a terrifying light it just seemed like a sad forest.
Despite all that it was easy to see that everyone else was still feeling the pressure. The evil aura in this place was really no joke. Luckily with Harry's lead we reached the cabin after only about ten minutes. The old dilapidated stone hut had been completely reworked. The grass was well trimmed and the exterior had been power washed sparkling clean. Of course they didn't need to worry about the stones themselves with all that magical protection but the grim slid right off. The roof was patched and there were tents surrounding the place.
Even without my protection I could tell this place was a sanctuary from the islands darkness. Connor was playing with a pack of wolves outside in the sunshine, chasing the big animals around, eyes shining gold as he tried to use his enhances speed and strength to grab the fleeing pups without much success. The Alphas were experts at harrying opponents and they were using their skills to tug his clothes and dart away. It seemed Tera was using this play time as training.
When he saw us though he stopped in his tracks then squealed "Kara!" And bolted towards us so fast I had to dip into my lightning aspect to even see him as he cannon balled into the blonde kryptonian. She laughed and swept him up into a hug, swinging him in a circle as the wolf boy giggled. "Where did you go? You never come visit anymore, the puppies are fun to play with but mommy says I have to move slow so I don't make them sad."
I saw one of the wolves look poleaxed and another taller, thinner wolf chuffed in amusement. I wasn't sure why but I knew just from seeing them that this was Billy and Georgia. The wolves all darted behind the house and came back within minutes, Georgia bolting over to us to tackle Andi, who laughed and barely caught the other werewolf. "Whoa careful there Ginger. I think you put some weight on there." Andi's eyes were sparkling as she teased her friend, but instead of a sarcastic comment Georgia blushed.
She tucked her hair behind an ear "I didn't realize I was already showing." We all kind of froze up at that and she blanched "Oh, you were kidding. Well, cats out of the bag I guess. Yeah, I am now two months pregnant. I didn't find out until we'd been on the island a while. I wouldn't have even noticed by this point but Tera could tell somehow, not sure if it was an in tune with nature thing or I just smell weird now and honestly I'm too scared to ask." She laughed and Billy stepped up next to her, pulling her against him.
We all paused for a second and then cheered pulling them forward for group hugs and basically passing them around like beer bottles off a wall. Harry pulled them both into a tight hug "Congrats you two! Welcome to the parent club, if you need any advice or help of anything feel free to come to me. I live right down the road from Charity and Michael and I'll walk with you so you can ask someone qualified." We all burst into laughter at that as we followed them back up to the cabin to see Tera, chatting about the baby.
As we walked Andi filled them in on some of what had been going on and her voice sounded relaxed and happy, it was nice to hear "I'm glad you guys seem to be doing so well out here, but you don't need to stick around. Cam took care of the...thing, that hurt Kirby. And the other biggest danger as well. The last threat won't mess with you guys because he'll be fighting us in a few days and he isn't the type to pass up a good brawl. Connor and Tera should stick around but the rest of the Alphas are free to head back."
Her voice flashed with pain when she mentioned Kirby, but she seemed to bounce back quickly, clearly seeing her friends was good for her. Another voice echoed across the hill "I won't be leaving even after things are handled. As the steward of this island I have duties here, but it's good the children are leaving. The spirit keeps the darkness away but this miasma still isn't ideal for a growing baby. You should be fine for now but I was planning to summon the warden soon in any case." Tera West stepped out of the cabin, bowing formally to Harry "Warden, it is good to see you."
Harry greeted her and she led us into the stone house, where tables and chairs had been set up and a small pair of twin beds sat in the corner. She gestured for us to sit down at the table and pulled a tea pot off a low fire burning in the fire place, pouring boiling water into the mugs she had set out before we came in. Each of the mugs had a small device in them with two mesh half spheres that opened when you pressed the stem and held tea leaves so they could soak properly without flaking off in the water. As the water steeped the tea Tera turned to smile at us. "Now, I heard some of the story as you were walking up, but why don't you tell me the details of how the search for our enemies has been going."
The next few days went by in a blur, between getting Billy and Georgia and the other Alphas back to the main land and making preparations for our big fight we had quite a bit on our plates. My master finished up all the armor for the girls and we contacted everyone and laid our plans, but in the end there wasn't too much to plan out. Fenrir was a monster of cataclysmic proportions, he wasn't the kind of enemy you fought, he was the kind of enemy you survived.
Raven and Cinder spent quite a while reinforcing soldier field for the fight. Since we doubted we could get Fenrir to wait long enough to lure him out to Demonreach our only real option was to make sure the field could take the heat so to speak. Sadly we had limited options since towers of green and red flaming glass would be a bit obvious. Our only real move here was to stick with subtle defenses that would hopefully limit the damage. Our second option was to fake a meteor strike and then anonymously donate money for the repairs, but people worked at that field so we were hoping to avoid it.
However, despite all the preparations made, I didn't feel any more ready for this fight. Fenrir was like the boogeyman, getting ready for fight the twins or Chastel or Shagnasty were one thing, those were people I hadn't heard of barely knew about, but I grew up on stories of the god wolf. Reading about gleipnir, the unbreakable chain that bound him, fashioned from impossible things and said to hold until Ragnarok. In retrospect it obviously didn't live up to the hype but still. Stories about that, and how he bit off Tyr's hand and all sorts of terrifying legends regarding the wold who killed Odin in Ragnarok.
This was the first time I was fighting one of MY childhood monsters specifically and I admit I was terrified. The Archangel Armor was a nuclear level enchanted artifact and it should be enough but some part of me kept coming back to the fact that this was FENRIR. Abstract monsters from legend were one thing but what business did I have trying to fight a fucking god eater. Because that's what he did. Fenrir ATE gods. Like snap, gulp, no more deity. I hadn't even fought a real god before, never mind the thing that they checked under their bed for before they went to sleep at night.
I felt a cool, delicate hand grasp my shoulder. Raven's voice came from behind me, soothing my soul like spring rain on a hot day. "You're spiraling." I turned to give her a sheepish smile and saw her returning a soft one of her own "You haven't done that in quite a while. I can feel your panic. But I only have one thing to say to you." She leaned up and kissed me softly "I believe in you, I think you can handle this. But part of being in a relationship is supporting you in anything, so if you're that worried then just leave it to me."
My heart almost melted as she returned my words from the island, and I felt that uncertainty and fear dry up. It didn't matter what came at me. I would be standing between it and this girl. Between it and all my girls. I swallowed hard and leaned forward to pull her into a hug, whispering into her ear "Thank you Rae. For always being there for me, and for always knowing what I need." I pulled back with a chuckle, subtly wiping my sleeve across my eyes. "So how is everyone else? You been putting out fires all over or am I the only one freaking out?"
She rested her head against my chest, her own laughter vibrating my body "For the most part just you." I felt a flash of shame at that, but she clearly picked it up because she leaned back and punched my shoulder. "Stop that." I gave her a confused look, raising one eyebrow as I rubbed my shoulder "Doubting yourself. Do you know why people aren't worried?" I didn't get a chance to respond because she immediately answered her own question "Because of you. They aren't worried because you're here to see us through it."
I snorted at that but she glared me into silence before I could say anything "It's true. I don't think you understand the impact you have on everyone's morale. We may have been heroes back home, but you're the one who pulls through when things look the darkest. The image of you, glowing with divine light, smashing your metal fist into the powerful enemies who have seemed like they might be the end of us is pretty much seared into all our minds. As long as we have you the others don't need to worry at all."
I sighed. I didn't feel like I could live up to that, but I guessed that was what being a leader was about. Fake it til you make it and all that. If I needed to keep up a strong front to make everyone else more confident that's what I would do, I owed them that and so much more. Besides there was no use in everyone tearing themselves apart with anxiety if I was already doing it. I smiled at Raven "I understand, I'll make sure to keep a brave face on so they don't have to worry. I can do that much for them."
She giggled and pecked me on the lips "Don't expect too much of yourself. We all know you're a huge worrier. You being anxious isn't affecting morale or anything. We believe in you even if you don't believe in yourself." I was more grateful for that than I could say, but unfortunately I didn't have time to express that because I felt a terrifying aura slam down over me. Raven looked up in the same direction I did, releasing me from her embrace and stepping back "Well, looks like the enemy has arrived."
Fenrir wasn't holding back today, but it seemed like he might have condensed his aura down. Whether that was to keep from disturbing any of the civilians nearby or because he wanted to see the fear in our eyes before we died I was pretty grateful. Aura tricks were less useful on me because of all the godsteel, as evidenced by my casual jaunt through Demonreach, and Fenrir's condensed presence didn't effect me like the others. Of course the Archangel Armor I was wearing might have helped too.
The rest of them were in magic armor too, but it obviously wasn't of the same level. As I tried to come up with a way to counter the aura of absolute domination the god wolf was exuding I finally caught sight of the big man strolling casually onto the field. He looked absolutely calm, like we were meeting up for a beer or something, and when he saw us gathered he gave a wolfish grin and waved. It was kind of sad that I knew one of us would die in this fight. He actually seemed like an ok guy.
Sadly Fenrir wasn't the kind of being that could live in the modern world. He was a relic of a ruthless and barbarous history and would absolutely kill anyone he felt like killing. Combined with the fact that he was here to steal a kid from his mother I had no hope of talking things out. Plus he wasn't the kind of enemy I could hold back against. If I didn't put everything I had into this fight I was going to die and all my girls and my teacher would go with me. This had been his decision, not mine.
It felt like eternity before the massive human form wolf arrived. The palpable sense of menace he exuded effected my even despite my armor, making it clear that this wasn't some supernatural effect, he was just a huge terrifyingly ferocious guy. I felt the others all bunch up closer to me. I wondered what exactly they were feeling here, without any of my advantages, even with masters armor this must be unbearable but no one even so much as squeaked. I was damn proud to have everyone on my side.
Fenrir bared his teeth at us in what seemed like a friendly fashion "So, you showed up. I wasn't sure, I half expected to have to hunt you down and butcher you in your home. But it's always nice to see a true warrior in todays day and age. You brought plenty of backup I see, but I don't begrudge you your helpers." He raised an eyebrow "Plenty of pretty girls with you, I'm impressed, but I've met enough Valkyries to know not to underestimate a beautiful woman on the battlefield. Speaking of which, hello Sigrun, you're looking well."
From her constant references to him being an animal and an abomination I expected her to be hostile, but she bowed perfunctorily at the waist and nodded deeply "Lord Fenrir." We all cast her odd looks and she shrugged "Lord Fenrir is after all, one of the gods. I dislike him greatly and believe him to be a rabid animal, but I owe him some respect when meeting in person, as I would any of Aesir blood." That was weird to me, but I guess that was how the Norse did things.
Somehow greeting someone politely and then telling them she thought they were scum fit well with Gard's personality.
Fenrir barked out a laugh "I always did like you for that Sigrun. Some of the other minor gods like to play pretend and treat me like a noble to my face while talking bad about me behind my back, but that was never you. Shame I wasn't your type, you'd have made a wonderful mate." He shrugged with an easy smile "In any case, before we start I feel I should give you some news. I took care of that little prophecy problem for you. Even if I die here, no one will come looking for the cub. I figured when I win it would be annoying to have everyone chasing after him anyway so I settled it ahead of time. A bit of added incentive."
My eyes widened, we had been combing our brains to figure that out. We were planning to either petition Odin for protection of establish it ourselves once we signed the accords, but if Fenrir said it was handled it was. The big guy did a lot of scary things from what I could tell, but lying wasn't one of them. I tried to banish the mental imagine Fenrir stalking into Egypt and destroying their wolf god's shrine and killing off whoever got in his way, but it kind of stuck with me. He was definitely one of a kind.
It was kind of sad in a way, to be depriving the world of a force of nature like that. It was like destroying the pyramids. Fenrir had been walking unhindered across this world since time immemorial and after tonight he might never do so again. Of course I also might not ever walk the earth again so I couldn't really feel too bad for him. I swallowed hard and bowed like Gard had done, but a bit deeper. "Then no matter how this turns out, thank you. It sounds like you'll be taking good care of Connor if you take him and doing this just proves it."
He snorted "I like you kid. That's pretty rare. I'll try to remember you and your friends when you're gone. It's the least I can do." He stepped back and spread his arms "Now, I figure it's only sporting to give you the first shot, so go ahead. Set up your best blow and let me have it." His eyes began to glow gold and his voice took on a bestial growl "But fair warning, you better make it a hell of a punch, because after that, I'm coming for you." And just like that, the fight was on.
The final battle begins! Don't expect a long one, Fenrir is more of a burn out than a fade away kind of guy. Let me know what you all think and hope you enjoy. Meanwhile in the advance chapters, a date with Cinder, because he hasn't been focused enough on her. pat-reon has the five advance chapters of two thousand words each for anyone who wants them, a total of ten thousand words at that site /malcolmtent. Let me know what you think.