A/N: Sorry 'bout the long wait. So here it is:
Chapter 11: The Wild Hunt.
Heather's blood dripped from her hand to the ground.
Thalia dug a hankerchief out of her backpack, tying it around Heather's palm to stop the bleeding.
There was a sound off in the distance. It didn't sound good. "What was that?" Heather asked.
"What?" Thalia said.
The sound occured again. It was a sound both of them, especially Thalia, knew well. It was the sound of a hunting bugle followed by hunting dogs.
"The Horn will sound," Thalia said, in a whisper.
"The hounds will bay," Heather replied.
The two of them stood frozen in place, weapons at their side.
The barking of the dogs grew louder and louder until they rang in the two hunter's ears. Moments later, they came into view, racing alongside a chariot. Feet from them, the hounds sat and whimpered, the chariot stopping.
The figure inside the chariot was both familiar and at the same time a stranger. "Artemis?" Thalia mouthed, and Heather could see a resemblence before the form shifted to a old man with a long white beard. "Dad?" Thalia whispered. Then the figure changed again, as easily as water taking the shape of its container.
This form neither of them recognized. It was an old man with a gray beard, wearing a gray cloak and a wide brimed hat. He almost looked like a Gandalf cosplayer that had just been to a LOTR convention. Two raven rested on his shoulders, and he was missing an eye.
"Daughters!" He said with a laugh, stepping off of the chariot. "I did not expect such a fine catch during the hunt." The form flickered between a half dozen forms including Zeus & Artemis.
"Daughters?" Thalia asked disbelievingly. The figure's form lingered on Zeus and nodded, before turning to Heather and shifting to Artemis and nodding again. After an eye blink, the figure reverted back to the one-eyed man.
"Yes. I am father to all, the All-Father." The ravens seemed to whsiper in the man's ear and flew off.
Now Heather recognized him. "You're Odin!" Heather said. "The AllFather!"
Odin smiled and nodded. "Among other things." His eyes flittered toward the hammer in Heather's hand, and the blood on the ground.
"Thank you for your blood sacrifice," Odin said. "We have been asleep for hundreds of years."
The hounds sniffed the air and growled.
"There are bigger things awakening still."
His eye stared out toward the ocean. "A mighty beast. One that hasn't been seen since the days of Ymir."
He extended his hands to the two hunters. "We hunt this beast. Will you join us?" he asked.
The girl nodded, and were lifted into Odin's chariots.
At onve the hounds started to bay again, and ran towards the coastline. The chariot and the faceless hunters behind them followed.
From the coast, the beast rose up into the sky at least three stories.
It was a monstrosity. Like some kind of squid or octopus mixed with a sea serpent. Throughout mythology it might have had a dozen names or none. Kraken, Sea Serpent, Jormungard, Cetus. It was like a mass of tentacles and scales, all except for the eyes. Eyes that shone blood red, and were looking directly at them.
The hammer in Heather's hand hummed with electricity. "One of you must go fight it. Only one. The rest of us will hold it at bay."
Thalia grabbed the chariot railing, but Heather grabbed her shoulder. "No," Heather said, "I'll go."
Heather stepped off the chariot and her clothes changed into something a viking shield maiden might have worn.
"Incoming!" Thalia yelled.
Heather looked up in time to see a giant tail/tentacle swinging directly towards her.
A/N: Has anyone guessed the greater enemy?
All will be revealed in the next chapter!
Please Read & Review