Let's begin. I know this is out super quick, like only two days after Chapter 24. Well I'm a fast writer, and I've got a little time now, so I'm gonna work my butt off to finish this book and write the final battle. I'm so excited to get to it, you guys will love it, at least I hope you do.

I'm gonna respond to reviews from the last couple of chapters. Skip if you're not interested.

Vagabond245: "Great story so far, I like the original content and the characters, and you wrote Percy and Annabeth well. Will they be involved in later chapters? I feel like they're underused, and Percy is a child of the Big Three, so he should be just as strong, or even stronger than Matt."

Response: Thank you. Glad you like the OC's and the story. So Percy and Annabeth will be heavily focused on in Book Three, right after this one. I realize they haven't been around much in this Book, but that was intentional, so I didn't have to juggle so many characters. Don't worry about it though, they're coming back to the spotlight soon! And Percy will get stronger, trust me.

MountainBookSage25: "Well

That was fun

And yeah, that is short for you

Considering you right 10,000 to 20,000 a chapter

Also

Me hoping when changing perspectives its only Matt and Harper

I think it would take the story too long if you add other characters' perspectives

Its fun reading Matt and Harper's already"

MountainBookSage25 Second Review:

"Sheeeeeessshhh

Now damn do I think Hercules is cool in this now

Damn fluff, you makin me cry

AND WE STILL HAVE THREE MORE BOOKS OF THESE

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Response: Thanks for the reviews. And yeah, Hercules has been really fun to write, I loved exploring his arc and taking a different path with him than most writers do. Glad you like it and him. Three more books, you are correct, and don't forget about the side stories. I might do a short prequel about Talon, Malachi, and Sera sometime, and I'm definitely doing a crossover soon with another writer, so this story is going to be very long lol. And about the perspectives, I might do more, but I doubt it. I only did Matt and Harper because they were in two different places. I'll probably just go back to Matt, but if I do more perspectives, it will only be Matt and another character, not three at a time, never that many.

thesuperone342: "Alright, so amazing chapter as always. Great introduction for the Norse camp and Sigurd, giving me some serious Vikings and Last Kingdom vibes with the whole thing. Definitely have done the Norse a while lot better than Riordan did

But the best and surprising thing about this chapter was the character development for Hercules. Honestly, this chapter might have made Hercules the best character besides Harper. Serious work on his backstory, motivations and reasons. And the fight with Ares was amazing, especially the use of his GOW backblades I used in my fight. Truly amazing chapter and I can't wait for the next one.

P.S. I named the mini arc The Prodigal Sons. Is that a good name or should we change it?"

Response: Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it. I tried to put a little Last Kingdom and Vikings in the setup, good to see it stuck. And yes, Hercules is definitely up there now, I love writing him, his arc is so interesting. Glad you liked the fight, and those backblades are so dope, I couldn't resist using them in the chapter. And Prodigal Sons sounds awesome man, can't wait.

NiHaR OP: "wow amazing, matt defending percy, camp asgard, hercules's fight, btw i think ares is underrated, god of war is no weakling in the old myths.

Ares.

All mythical sources aren't even in agreement that Heracles was a god. Heracles was just one mythical human figure who some Greeks believed became a god.
The belief in the cult of Heracles didn't really surpass the popularity of the cult of Dionysus. SO he didn't become a god
Even if Heracles were a god, Ares would still presumably win, because in the myths no gods can overcome him except Athena,Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, and sometimes hestia and hera.
Saw this on the official greek museum website btw.
Ofc this is an AU so, hercules could beat ares.

But what doesn't sit right with me is our boy matt, after he is half human, so it doesn't make sense that hes more powerful than the olympians, maybe minor gods, sure.
but the olympians have been accumulating power for milleniums.
Anyway just wanted to give my thoughts on this whole thing.

Cant wait for next chap"

Response: Thanks Nihar. So I already addressed this in a PM with him, but I'll keep it short here.

I follow the Riordan canon, and myth canon. In Riordan Canon, Hercules is a god, so I kept him that way, and he has godly abilities on top of his hero strength, plus the Red Aura, so I think it makes sense that he's as strong as he is. Same with Matt, he's the son of that guy, and has his own Red Aura, so I don't think he's that OP. Besides, the complaint of OP characters is that there are no stakes or tension, and the character doesn't lose or get hurt. But there are SEVERAL beings stronger than Matt, and he's lost a few times, notably almost got killed by the Sons of Thor. And I didn't mean disrespect to Ares, he's pretty badass, just in this fic, he lost. You are right, it is an AU, so things are a little different. I hope it doesn't bother anyone, and I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just giving my reasoning. Nihar and I talked it out, he gets it. And if you have any more questions regarding all that stuff, let me know.

Oh and good luck on your exams man, I'll probably be done with this book by the time a week passes and you'll be able to read again. You'll have a LOT to catch up on, but it'll be epic, don't worry.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

Let's get on with the chapter.

25. We Fight An Army Of Zombie Vikings

Matt

When the dead people started rising from the ice by the millions, I knew we were in trouble.

Wait, wait. Let me just start from the beginning.

I slept a good few hours, more than enough to keep me going, and the night was mostly peaceful.

Mostly peaceful.

See, I had that dream again, the dream of the two lions and the man in the savanna. It was the same dream, only this time, more ominous and daunting.

I was in the same setting, standing about a hundred feet away from a watering hole. The only two animals drinking from the watering hole were a pair of lions. Now, when these visions had started, one lion was a full grown male, and the other was a male cub, smaller than the older lion's leg. Now they looked the same, and the baby cub had grown up, becoming the same size as the other one. He was bigger, faster and much stronger than he used to be, and he drank from the watering hole with great gulps, almost gasping for it, like his life depended on it. The older lion however, drank carefully and slowly, taking less frequent, and smaller sips. It was quite noticeable actually, the difference in the quantity at which they drunk.

Then the third person of the vision was there, always there. The mustached man in the top hat and suit. He always stood at a distance, about as far as I stood from the lion's, watching them. Only he never watched them with satisfaction or awe or anything, not like some kind of interested animal expert. No, he watched them with patience, expectance. Like he was waiting for them to do something, and he had been waiting for a long time. I got the strange feeling he had been waiting decades...even centuries.

This time he stood directly behind them, changing his position. He was now closer to the two animals, about fifteen feet away now, staring at them like usual. Only now, he had a watch on his wrist. A nice, old fashioned one that elderly rich men wear. He checked it every few minutes, and I could literally hear the clock ticking in my brain whenever he did. The sound was haunting to me for some reason.

This vision's appeared multiple times over the course of this quest, you've heard me describe it, and I've seen it. But the question is, what the hell does it mean? This has to be the most vague and mysterious demigod vision of all time, because I have absolutely no clue. There are so many questions I have about it, so many things I want to talk about, but I'm not sure if I can even describe it properly, or if I want to talk about it. Whoever was listening would probably think I'm being overdramatic for being unnerved by a vision of a dude watching a couple of lions.

I'm telling you though, the vision creeped me out and made my stomach turn more than ever now. I don't know why, but the fact that the man was closer...meant something. I'm sure there's a ton of metaphor's here, and my consciousness is trying to tell me something. But what? I'm not that smart. I don't know what the lion growing up is supposed to symbolize, or the difference in the two's drinking speed, or who this man even is, why he checks his watch, why he's been waiting this whole time and doesn't just go up to them and get what he wants. I don't know.

All I knew, was that I needed it deciphered. And maybe the best person to ask was Sigurd. He could read minds after all, and he was really smart. If anyone could tell me, he could.

Anyway, sorry for the side route. I'll get back to it.

After I left the longhouse, and said my goodbye to Harper, I found Sigurd waiting for me at the gates of Camp. He had on his black cloak, coming all the way down to his boots, and flowing with the morning wind. Any other person probably wouldn't have been able to see him, due to it still being dark out. Yeah, it was that early. Anyway, I could only see him because of my enhanced sight, and even then his cloak hid him well.

He was standing next to a black sleigh, large enough to fit four people I'd say. At the front, stood two wolves, one with orange fur, and the other with black fur. They waited patiently and looked around for constant threats. Their eyes gleamed from here.

I looked up at the dark morning sky and took a good look at the stars above. I inhaled a chilly breath of air, letting it fill my lungs. The sensation refreshed me, and I felt myself oddly invigorated.

I shook my head and woke myself up. It was go time...as soon as I got this haircut.

Okay, so it's no secret that my hair got longer over the course of the year on my father's Island. No razor, no pair of scissors, yeah, you get the gist. And it became annoying. I'd always had the same haircut ever since I was little. About three inches of length on top, spiked up, with the sides faded and buzzed a little shorter, just a little.

Well now, I looked like the caveman version of that. My brown hair was thick, coming nearly down to my neck and chin, it was constantly getting in my face, tickling me, all that stuff. You'd think I would get used to it by now, but no, I'm not. In fact, I grow more and more annoyed with it. I should've tied it up in a man bun or something.

Uh...no. I can't pull that off.

"There you are." Sigurd said, greeting me. Only half of his face was visible, the other half being covered by red hair, an eyepatch, and his black hood. So I only saw a smidgen of white skin.

"Here I am" I said, "First, the haircut. Arya hasn't forgotten, has she?"

He shook his head seriously, "No. She's been up for a few minutes, and is ready to go. She'll be quick if you don't mind. I'd like to get to the cavern, so perhaps we can take this beast by surprise."

Sounded smart. Maybe the thing was asleep.

Wait a second, "Beast? You think it's a monster?" We started walking to his house, the big one in the middle of Camp.

He shrugged, "I don't know. Didn't you say you had aura sensing abilities? Why not try that?"

I stopped in my tracks. Why hadn't I thought of that? Was I too distracted? Or too stupid?

Let's go with distracted.

"Good idea, man." I concentrated, and aimed my aura sense at the mountains in the distance, miles ahead. I'd never tested my limit, but I'd say I've reached over seven miles before with this sensing thing. Crazy, I know. My father's training really helped with it, and learning the whole Red Beam Cannon thing (Yeah, I'm gonna call the attack that) really helped too. It unlocked more power within me, like some kind of potential I never knew I had. Especially my aura sensing, it had been boosted as well. I felt like I could reach across the entire country with it now. But obviously I didn't, because I might overload from too many auras.

I felt around the mountains, but found nothing of significance. Some animals, and that's about it.

"Over there, right?" I pointed, "That's where I'm aiming."

"That's where it is." He said, "Feel anything?"

I shook my head, my lips tight with disappointment. "No. Sorry, man."

He nodded grimly, "No worries. We'll find out soon enough."

With that, we kept walking, and came up to his house. There was a light on in the first floor, no light on the second floor. Sigurd must've blown out the green candles.

Sigurd opened the door and held it for me, I walked inside and saw Arya already set up. An electric razor and little kit ready for me behind the couch.

She snapped the scissors at me, "Ready for your new look, Matt?"

I chuckled, "Not exactly new. I'm getting my old haircut back."

Sigurd gestured to the couch, which had a towel on it, to collect my hair I guess.

"Go ahead, Matt." He said, "I promise you she won't mess up."

Arya shoved him, and I nearly fell to the floor at the fact that Sigurd just tried to make a joke.

I sat down and Arya began to cut my hair. It felt so good, finally getting this mess off. Hey, I don't have a problem with long haired dudes at all. Look at Malachi, I like him a lot, so it's not that. It's just that I don't like it on me.

Arya first started with a guarded razor, shaving off clumps of hair on my sideburns and the back of my head. Each brown bundle either fell on the towel or to the floor, gone for good. I smiled at the sight. Good riddance, hair.

Finally she cut off the razor and pulled out the scissors. She used her hand to pull the hair on top of my head up, and cut it with the scissors. More strands of brown hair fell to the floor, and a few minutes later, she fluffed my hair and ran her fingers through it to get any excess out.

She put everything down, "All done. Like it?" She put a mirror in front of my face, and I looked in it. When I saw myself, I nearly jumped for joy. It was perfect! Literally the exact way I had it. Except it wasn't spiked up. Instead it was flat and jutting out my head. All it needed was a little gel.

"Got any gel?" I asked, turning my head to my shoulder.

Sigurd shrugged, "Don't look at me."

Arya thought for a second, then gave me a knowing nod. "I think I have just what you need."

She walked off upstairs for a minute or so. I asked Sigurd with my eyes where she was going, and he just closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

She came back down with a small jar of what looked like gel. It was clear, with little air bubbles stuck in it like fossilized crystals.

Sigurd cocked his head, "What the hell is that?"

Arya frowned at him, "We have gel, Sigurd. I cut hair for other people around Camp, you know."

He surrendered, "Apologies, dear. Do your thing." He sat down on the couch opposite of me, sighing. I almost laughed, these guys reminded me of Percy and Annabeth.

She pulled out a wad of the gel substance and started to put my hair up, swiping it back and and pulling it up. Before I knew it, she pulled her hands away, and I felt the fresh weight of the gel sit on my hair, the strands tightening up and drying.

"There, that better?" She handed me the mirror again.

I grabbed it and looked. Holy crap, that's way, way better. It literally looks exactly like I had it once before, how I would style it in the mornings before school. It was a little wet looking, since the gel was freshly applied, but given a few minutes, it would dry and look normal.

"Whoa...this is perfect." I said breathlessly, elated that I had my old look back. "Thanks, Arya."

Sigurd cleared his throat.

Arya glared at him, "What?"

"You could thank me as well. I am the one that suggested her to cut your hair after all."

She threw a hairbrush at him and he caught it, a deadpan expression on his face. I snickered at the scene. The more I hung around Sigurd, the more free he became, like he was having a little more fun.

He threw the brush down, "Now then, let's take off. We have a path to make." He got up and stood at the door.

"Lighten up, will you?" Arya said.

"I will lighten up when Ouranos is in an ash pile." He said, "Come on, Matt."

I nodded, serious Matt coming back. Path to clear, Ouranos to fight. Let's go.

I got up and Sigurd walked out the door, his cloak dragging on the stairs behind him. I turned around and broke my intimidating demeanor for a moment, giving Arya a thumbs up and a grin. "Thanks" I whispered.

She smiled back, and returned the whisper, "You're welcome."

I couldn't fight down the grin for a solid minute though, I couldn't help it. The Old Matt was back.

We walked side by side to the sleigh like thing in silence, putting back on my serious face and getting into the combat mindset.

"So Dead Man's Cavern?" I said, "The former chief, did he ever say anything about it?"

He got in the front seat of the sleigh and grabbed the thin reins. I jumped in next to him and caused the entire thing to nearly roll over at my weight. The wolves got spooked and looked back at me in annoyance.

I cringed, "Sorry, guys."

Sigurd shook his head at me, "You should be more careful. You're a big guy." He snapped the reins and we took off, the wolves pulling us just fine, even with my "big" weight. Which was only like two hundred and fifteen pounds, tops. Come on.

He continued as we traveled through the snow and down the slopes. "About Hannes and the cavern, he only told me the location, and never to go there. That it was extremely dangerous."

Before I could respond, he held up a hand, "And I know that sounds counter intuitive, to tell a child not to go to a dangerous place. But I was not most children. I looked up to my mentor, and whenever he said something, I listened."

I noted the more respectful tone he used when talking about the former chief. Who now had a name, Hannes.

"You never said he was your mentor." I said, "The former Chief, I mean."

He paused and looked around, not replying. He turned the reins and the wolves made a sharp left, entering the next slope.

"I told you I would reveal more about my past. And since we have a decent ride ahead...I suppose I can do so." He took a breath and the wolves entered a slower but even pace. The slope we were on was longer and more narrow. The wolves teetered on the edge, and had to go slower to be safe.

"I'll listen, man." I said, "I mean, you already know my past. I don't have mind reading tricks."

I could've swore I saw the hint of a smile on his face, "Indeed. So I suppose I'll have to explain mine." He sighed, "I must warn you, I'm not a good storyteller."

I was about to assure him that however bad he thought he was in that regard, I was worse. But before I could open my mouth, the sleigh lurched forward and Sigurd pulled on the reins, signaling the wolves to stop.

"What the-" I started, but saw Sigurd's finger in my face, pointing down below us.

"Storm Spirits." He said, miffed. You could've sworn a fly had landed on his face, and he would've given the same reaction. "Hold that thought, Matt."

I looked to where his finger guided and saw that yep, there were about eight storm spirits below us on the next slope, no doubt sent by Ouranos, waiting for us. They each were nearly transparent, having humanoid, ghost like body figures made of mist, but inside of each of them, they had a blue core. A coil of lightning that pulsed in a pattern. Basically it was their hearts.

I gripped the side of the sleigh, ready to jump off and maul the spirits. "You want me to take care of them?"

Sigurd shook his head, scoffing. "Don't waste your strength with these mosquitoes. A simple hand wave is enough from me." With that, he raised his hand out of his cloak and spread out his fingers, like he was trying to levitate something. Which he probably could to be honest. But instead of doing that, his palm and his eye both started to glow a bright green. His scarred eye illuminated behind the patch, and his hand was brighter, the glow being larger. It was his aura, I had no doubt. Because when I felt it, it was focused into his hand, a small portion of it.

I wasn't sure what he was getting at, so I looked to see the effect. And to my surprise, the storm spirits' hearts started to turn green. The blue coils of lightning stopped pumping electricity and a pure green seeped over it, like it was a liquid that had been poured over a paper towel. The spirits convulsed and shook violently with pain, moaning and hissing to get it to stop. They each dropped their weapons, and with a simple flex of Sigurd's fingers, they all evaporated in a flurry of little sparks.

I was pretty impressed. My jaw was probably open. Sure, it was only a few storm spirits, which were fodder at best, but that power...was pretty cool. It was like he placed his aura in somebody else, and destroyed them from the inside. No...that's exactly what he did. I could literally feel it go in the spirits' bodies, and return to him once they were dead.

He sat back down like nothing happened, "Now then, we can move." He snapped the reins and the wolves continued our journey. "Where were we? Oh right, my history."

I waved a hand, "Hold on a second." As interested as I was in Sigurd's past, I wanted to know exactly what he had just done. "What was that back there?"

"I manipulated my aura, and placed it inside of them." He said simply, "I destroyed their core."

I nodded, figuring that's what he did. It was an interesting ability, and way to use aura. I had just learned last night how to steal aura, and Sigurd could give away his, and use it against you. Huh, I better not steal any of his any time soon, he might squeeze my heart to nothing.

"Nice power, man." I said, "Father taught me last night how to take aura and use it as my own in some charged up attack." I shrugged pridefully, "Named it the Red Beam Cannon. Yep, made that up myself."

He curled his lip, "Oh I'm sure you did." He changed his expression and looked impressed by my statement. "That's a very useful ability. I've never thought about taking another's aura and combining it with your own. That could come in handy during the invasion."

"Well, my father's better at it. He's a master. I just found out how to do it, so I'm not sure I should be trying it with full power yet."

He agreed, "That's wise. Training a technique is always better than going in unprepared."

We didn't speak for another few minutes, as we picked up speed. We forgot about discussing his past for a moment so he could locate the cavern and be sure we were headed in the right direction. We were. We passed slope after slope, hill after hill, and I realized just how high up Camp Asgard was, and how far we would've had to walk if Malachi didn't teleport us. I have stamina for days, but that still would've sucked. So thanks, buddy.

Finally I heard Sigurd say, "Close." And we reached the final slope. It wasn't tilted as much as the others, and let off into a flat, icy plain. We were only about thirty feet above ground level now, still on the mountain technically, but pretty much at the bottom. I looked to my right and saw that the sun was starting to rise. It's golden glow was peeking over the other mountains, outlining the various shapes and sized of cloud flurry's with it's perfect light. I got a good view to say the least.

"Man, this place is really nice." I said, "I love sunsets and sunrises."

He chuckled, the first time I'd ever heard him do so. If I wasn't so mesmerized by the sunrise, I would've turned to see if I'd heard things.

I felt the sleigh come to a stop, full silence ensuing now that the wolves' paws weren't beating on the ground.

"You and Hannes would've gotten along." He said, "He always loved sunrises and sunsets both. He said they symbolize Beginnings and Endings, and the fact that they can both turn out beautiful."

I looked at him, to see he'd already gotten off and was looking away from me. "Hannes sounds like a great man."

I saw his hood sway just a tiny bit, telling me he was nodding. "He was."

Sigurd grabbed the wolves by their heads with his hands, and closed his eyes. I could feel the tiniest bit of his aura transfer to them, telling them to stay put with his mind. Kind of like what Father and I had with Kyros, a connection to the animals we had.

When he was done, he took a good look at side of the mountain. At the bottom of it, not ten meters from us, was an entrance. A small entrance, maybe eight feet high and just wide enough to fit both of us. On the inside was nothing but black, no light or anything.

"Here we are." Sigurd said neutrally, "Dead Man's Cavern."

I raised an eyebrow, "This is Dead Man's Cavern? I expected something a little...I don't know, bigger?"

He started walking, "Don't judge a book by it's cover. We've no idea what we will find in here."

He was right. Heck, things that didn't look dangerous turned out to be dangerous all the time. Gods themselves can pass as normal people. Well, most of them anyway.

I jogged to catch up to him, and found myself standing beside him, inches away from the abyss we were about to enter. I could practically feel it's length and maze like layout. It had to be hundreds upon hundreds of feet long.

"How are we gonna see?" I asked.

He lifted his hand and the same green light as earlier appeared, like a little flame. It was his aura, but in a smaller quantity. He was using it as a torch.

He cocked his head towards the black cavern, "I'll lead the way." We started walking slowly, him a couple of inches in front of me, walking by my left side. His green light offered just enough visibility to see where we were going, but that was about it. I couldn't tell you what the walls or roof looked like. If there even was a roof in here.

"Wow, you have a really good control of your aura." I said breathlessly, impressed. Looking around and trying to spot anything.

"I trained with it for a long time." He said, "Hannes helped me when I was younger."

"Yeah, about that. We never finished talking about him."

I could feel his mood shift, "It's...not a subject I like talking about. But you deserve to know some of my history. I think it will help with the cooperation, and trust between Camps."

I was all ears, "I agree."

He held up his green hand torch a little, seeing how tall the roof was. We didn't see a ceiling though, only more black and endless amounts of ice and rock.

"What do you want to know?"

I thought for a minute, trying to think of a question to ask. I figured he'd just do the talking, but I guess this was just how he operated. Maybe having someone engage in the conversation with him frequently helped him think and speak better. I understood it, because I was like that myself.

"Okay, uh...how did you and Hannes meet?"

He sighed fondly, "I was a mere baby. After I had been born to Odin and my mortal mother, Hannes found me."

So he had been found? Huh, I expected Odin to have some magic raven deliver him to Camp Asgard or something. Sounds like a Sigurd way of being born.

But I had a feeling it was far more real and tragic than that. I pressed, "Your mom? What happened?"

He didn't pause or dodge the question, like he'd answered it several times before. "Killed by two monsters. Hannes buried her and rescued me from the home, taking me to Camp Asgard."

I nodded, not saying anything. I understood mom issues, but mine wasn't dead. I couldn't compare myself to Sigurd. That was awful, and as just a baby. He never even knew her.

"I'm sorry, man." I said genuinely.

"No worries." He said seriously and didn't continue.

I tried to change the subject, "So...Hannes trained you?"

He brightened up a little, I could tell by the emotions in his aura. "Yes. He taught me life lessons, how to fight, how to read, how to write, how to do everything pretty much. I respect Odin, and I know he is my father. But...Hannes was always more of a father figure to me. I respected no one more than him."

I smiled sadly, this guy sounded a lot like Chiron. That's something he would do, and practically did with Annabeth. I miss the old centaur.

Sigurd continued, not needing met to ask questions to talk about his father figure. "Hannes was a son of Hel, goddess of death and our version of the Underworld. He had dark like powers, but he wasn't a fan of his mother's, and never used his abilities for maleficent purposes."

"Goddess of death? Sounds like a powerful guy." I noted.

He nodded, "Oh yes. Hannes was Chief for a number of years, and led many successful battles for us. He not only had raw power, but intelligence as well. Not all of mine is naturally from Odin. Hannes taught me a great deal about battle strategy, and how to plan smartly."

Sounds like Sigurd was being groomed to become Chief from the beginning, and that was the next question on my tongue. "Being the Son of Odin, you probably got a lot of special treatment, huh? Like did they want you to become Chief eventually?"

"Yes, actually. I was treated differently, like royalty almost. Odin is the most powerful Norse god, and he has never had a demigod child, at least, none that we know of. You could argue that famous Vikings like Ragnar Lothbrok were children of Odin, but between me and you, I believe Ragnar was a sire of Thor."

I reared my head back, "Wait, the dude from Vikings?"

He groaned in disappointment, "Ragnar was a real Viking, Matt. And a demigod no doubt. We just don't know to which god he was born." He waved his hand dismissively, "But that doesn't matter. The point is, that yes, I was treated specially, and Hannes wanted me to become Chief. The way it works in our Camp, is that the Chief picks who will become the next after him. And Hannes picked me, right when he brought me back to Camp."

"Ah" I said knowingly, "So that's why he trained you and taught you everything, so you would make a good Chief."

He shrugged, "Partly yes. He wanted me to be a good Chief, and everyone started to count on me, even at a young age. But he also genuinely cared for me, and we enjoyed our time together. It wasn't some chore for him, at least, not that I gathered."

I understood, hoping that It didn't sound like I just thought Hannes was only spending time with him to insure he was a great Chief. That wasn't what I meant at all.

We turned a corner and had to maneuver around the ice so both of us wouldn't get smushed. We cleared it and kept walking, probably a football field's worth of length behind us now. Man, where was the end to this thing?

"So..." I said, breaking the brief silence, "Did you ever have time to do anything normal? You know, kid stuff?"

He actually smiled. And I mean smiled. Wow, Sigurd was changing by the minutes as we continued to talk. Maybe I'd misjudged him as being too uptight and serious. Maybe he was normally like this, and I just hadn't seen it yet.

"I met Arya at the age of three, when she came to Camp. We were good friends, and talked a lot. But when I met Rune..." He said the name Rune with a tone of sadness, and I caught it. "Rune and I hit it off immediately. He was a Son of Baldur, and we became best friends. We did everything together, and Arya played with us too from time to time. Eventually Ivan came along, and he joined our friend group, then Bjorn and Boris."

At the mention of the brothers, I turned my head to him, "The Sons of Thor? They were your friends?"

He nodded neutrally, as if he was explaining the synopsis of a book he'd just read. "They sort of were. All of us...we went on several quests together. Other than my first, which was to kill Fenrir, after that they accompanied me." He sighed wistfully, "We did so many things, thinking back on it now. We had to rescue Freyr one time, defeat Gullinborsti, retrieve the moon chariot, among a number of things."

I couldn't identify any of those names or terms, but it sounded like Sigurd and his team did quite a few things over their demigod careers, probably more than myself.

"Sounds like you guys worked well together." I said, meaning the Sons of Thor, "What happened?"

Now his expression wasn't neutral. It became very grim. "I never said we worked well together, just that we were...allies for a period." His green flame grew a little brighter from his emotion, "Bjorn, Boris and I never got along. Ever since they came to Camp, I knew they were different. They didn't exactly have a great start in this life, but I didn't either. That doesn't excuse the way they behaved, and still do."

I was definitely intrigued now, "What happened to them?"

"They were born in a Swedish Village, out in the country." He explained, "They had a powerful birth, being fraternal twins of the same god. That's unheard of for the Norse pantheon, at least in this modern era. Their birth held so much power, that it nearly destroyed the village they stayed in. Storms were summoned, lightning struck, wind nearly tore down houses. The townsfolk were angry, and saw the children as devil spawn. They one night, charged the house, and decided to get rid of them, supposedly before they could hurt anyone. And wound up killing their mother by accident."

My mouth opened in horror. Jeez, that was...awful. They couldn't even help the fact that it happened, yet nobody got hurt, and they still hated them, as babies? Enough to want to kill them? That just didn't make sense to me. People were cruel, mortals were cruel, but that cruel? Man...

Sigurd could practically read my mind, "It gets worse, believe me. After they were attacked, and their mother killed, the people decided the babies were too durable to be killed by any of their weapons, so they figured why not create a false story? They're just babies after all, we can mold their memories to what we want."

"No..." I said, not sure where it was heading, but I had a grim feeling.

"Yes, they lied to Bjorn and Boris, telling them their mother died of childbirth and that their father was a deadbeat drunk, long gone. They said since they had no legal guardian, they were to be adopted. They were...by a horrible man. This man practically used them as slaves for years, because they didn't know any better. They thought that this was their purpose, what they were supposed to do."

"They tricked them, and someone forced them to work for him?"

He nodded, "Yes, and finally, Thor had enough. When they were about six or seven years old, Thor sent a vision to both of them, informing them of how their mother truly died, and who they truly were." Sigurd tilted his head, "Now I'm not sure if the intention on Thor's part was for the vision to make them flee, or for his sons to take revenge. Well...they went the second route. Something snapped in those two that day, and they became what they are now, and were for years. They used their abilities for the first time knowingly, and slaughtered their guardian, and the entire town. Over two hundred people probably."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, I expected some sort of reason as to why the Sons of Thor are so twisted, but...I never expected that. That was downright tragic, downright inhumane. I was starting to get it now, why they were the way they were. They'd been molded by hate from the very beginning, it was all they knew.

"Did they come to Camp after that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

"Yes." He said, "And their newfound ruthlessness was noticeable here, for years. They loved to fight, and they constantly picked on people, taunted them, bullied them whenever Hannes wasn't around. They didn't bully me however, but they would make remarks, and I would ignore them."

"Did Hannes try to change them?" I asked, surprised that kids could be that mean at just seven years old.

Sigurd nodded, "He did, but he was unsuccessful. They hated the way he ran things, more and more as they grew up. How inclusive he was, letting homosexual demigods in Camp for instance, letting them live here and be equal. They believed since they cannot reproduce, then what good are they. They'll just die worthless and different. Another thing was the physically disabled. They always said we should throw out the wounded and weak, only let the strong stick around. That we shouldn't waste our time with them. If they got hurt this time, then they'll get hurt next time, we need to let them die. Basically if Hannes or I thought it was a good policy, they thought the opposite."

I shook my head, "Damn man, why didn't you guys kick them out sooner? They're downright horrible."

He shrugged helplessly, "They were powerful, and they were very smart in combat. Those were the sole two reasons. We could complete any quest, win any battle with those two, Hannes, and myself on the front line. Their teamwork was impeccable, and no one could defeat them at the same time, besides Hannes, and that's only through sheer experience. Not even I could handle both of them at once back then, they were too good together."

"How long were they there?"

He racked his brain for a moment, "Up until last year, after the end of our fight with Ymir. They were here for a long time, and went on every quest with me, Arya, Rune, and Ivan. Back then, they were just bullies, but they would fight beside us, help us, and there were times...where I'll admit, I didn't dislike them so much. A sliver of something that could've been, shone out of them. But those moments were brief."

I waited for him to continue, silently asking for what happened at the very end. How Hannes died and how The Sons of Thor got banished.

He sighed, "Hannes was killed by Ymir. It was the final battle, and he sacrificed himself to save us and deal a deadly blow to the Primordial. That was two years ago. I took over as Chief and married Arya. Bjorn and Boris were still here, along with Ivan and Rune. Rune...was still my best friend, always had been, but he and the brothers...well, they hated each other more than the brothers and me. With me, they had a certain level of respect for my power and battle prowess. But Rune wasn't particularly strong, skilled with weapons yes, but not powerful, so they viewed him as weak and disposable. They constantly argued and bickered back and forth, making hateful comments near all the time. But neither side ever did anything physical, because the brothers knew I or Hannes would unleash hell on them if they hurt Rune, and Rune didn't touch them due to their strength. It was a stalemate."

"Until..." I supplied.

We turned another corner in the cave, "Until that stalemate was broken. Hannes...was dead, and I was chief. Bjorn and Boris were more vocal about they're disagreements with me, and started acting out, destroying property, going on their own quests just to kill monsters for the fun of it, that kind of thing. Eventually the feud between them and Rune came to a head, when Rune came out as homosexual, and began dating another male Camper. I'd had enough, and told the brothers to leave him alone, or they would have to feel my wrath, and be banished from the Camp. They calmed down for a while, until one day...Rune decided to get back at them for all of the years of bullying." He slowed his walking and breathed out a somber sigh, "That was the worst mistake of his life, but he was understandably angry. He embarrassed the brothers one day, in front of everyone, and that was the last straw for Bjorn and Boris. They...They killed him that night, Rune and his boyfriend both. Electrocuting them slowly and painfully behind Camp until they were burned from the inside."

Sigurd's fists were clenched, including his green lit hand. I had to admit, I myself was fuming too. These guys were pure evil. I didn't care how tragic of a childhood they had. Murdering and bullying a dude just because likes the same gender and embarrassed you is downright sinful. I regretted not beating them senseless when I had the chance, both times. Had I known, I probably could've evened the playing field.

Sigurd's voice growled with rage, "I found Rune's body, and knew immediately what happened. I went into a fit of rage, and attacked Bjorn and Boris with everything I had. It was enough to overwhelm them, and they retreated. I told them they were banished and to never come back. If they did, I would kill them."

I nodded, putting the puzzle pieces together, "And that's why Thor came to Camp, to confront you about banishing his sons." Then I raised a confused eyebrow. Why would Thor object to his sons' banishment, and not punish them himself? Didn't he know how awful they were?

Sigurd read my mind, "No, he didn't. Turns out Thor was disappointed in them, and their birth was an accident anyway. He hadn't meant to impregnate the mortal woman, at least that's what he told me when he stood at the gate and I faced him. He said that they existed though, and like other demigods, they should be allowed in Camp. I told him no, that they had killed my best friend, and broke the most important rule."

"What did he say?" I asked, trying to visualize the event.

"He wouldn't accept it, that they had done such a thing. We began to fight, and...it was very tough for me. Thor was a god, and a powerful one at that. I had to bring my all, and use techniques I hadn't used in a long time. In the end, after several hours, I managed to defeat and weaken him. He retreated to a cave with his sons...and you know the rest."

I looked straight forward and shaped my mouth into an O, breathing out a lungful of air, trying process everything I'd just heard. Sigurd basically told me his life story, and all the information about the Sons of Thor I wanted in a few minutes. But it felt like hours worth.

I felt rage fill my insides. I needed to take those bastards down, right along with Ouranos. If I wasn't sure about taking them out before, now I am. There are just people that have no love in this world, no compassion at all whatsoever. Ouranos, The Big Four, Bjorn, and Boris were the main suspects on that list. Ouranos, being the mastermind of this entire operation, killing probably hundreds of thousands in his lifespan. The Big Four, killing Chiron and nearly destroying Camp Half Blood, showing no remorse at all. And the Sons of Thor...going by what Sigurd said, they were the worst. They enjoyed killing, and did it for no real reason. At least Ouranos preached about a new world and actually seemed to believe in it, and the Big Four were manipulated troubled teens, let's face it, finding purpose and comfort in the being in the ranks of a psycho. But Bjorn and Boris...no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They needed to be put down.

"I'm gonna defeat every one of those bastards." I snarled, "I swear, when this invasion comes. I'm letting loose. I'm not playing it safe anymore, I'm gonna give Ouranos everything I've got, all of the power I've accumulated."

Sigurd glanced at me, "Don't be reckless, Matt. I understand it's infuriating, but you have to keep a level head. Especially now..." He pointed up at the ceiling, but I knew he was signaling down the tunnel. "Do you hear that?"

I cupped my ear, and heard a faint noise in the distance. I couldn't identify it though. It was weird, sounding kind of like a spider crawling across the ice.

"What is that?"

"I don't know, but we need to keep moving. I think we're close to the exit."

We trudged further, this time in slower, more careful steps. If anything were in here, they'd hear it, and wake up as soon as a crack formed in the ground.

I felt out with my aura sense, just to make sure. It came back, and I felt nothing, not even an insect.

"Sigurd, I can't feel anything on my aura sense. I don't think anything's down here."

He stopped in his tracks and raised the green flame above his head, igniting it more with his aura. I looked above and saw that the ice and rock cavern ceiling had grown fifty feet or more, and we were now standing in a much larger section of the path.

Sigurd paced forward, and I stayed put, trying to make out the shape of this place.

"I think we've reached the end." He said, his voice echoing across the walls. That told me it was a lot wider than what we were walking in back there. "Look at this."

I went over to where he was, and he pointed. In front of us was a wall of pure ice and rock, clumped together like a giant sculpture. But I also noticed that a bit of light was shining through, from the outside. This was the end, and all we had to do was break the ice.

I smiled, "Nice, man. Now we just gotta bust it open, and-"

I was cut off my a loud crack in the ice floor. I felt it vibrate under me, and we both darted our heads behind us in shock.

"Uh...what was that?" I asked to no one.

"No idea." Sigurd said, just as confused as me. "Feel with your aura sense."

"I already did."

"Do it again."

I sighed and sent it out, the radar came back instantaneously. Nothing.

"There's no aura there, man."

CRACK!

We jumped at that one. Another large crack formed in the floor, and something slapped on the ice, like a hand hitting it. Whatever the source was, it started to moan and groan like a dead person.

"Matt" Sigurd's tone became urgent, "Use your aura to light up the space. We need to see what it is."

I was still confused. How the hell did they not have auras? What even were they?

I obeyed though, and concentrated my aura in my hand, like Sigurd did. I focused on my anger and rage, the things that made me mad, and it formed, the familiar red glow illuminating the room next to Sigurd's.

We pointed our make shift flashlights in front of us, and I saw what I least expected.

Zombies.

Full on Zombie Vikings. They were husks of skeletons, bone showing through their black and mangled skin. It was disgusting. They looked like they hadn't fully decomposed yet, and had stayed in the rotting stage for a few hundred years. There were only three of them, and they were crawling out of the hole in the ice floor. They had sunken faces, pure black eyes, rotten skin dangling off of their thin bodies, and they wore pieces of Viking armor. One had on a helmet, another had on a shoulder plate with spikes on it, and the third even had a weapon. A probably fifty pound axe, that he was holding up perfectly, despite being literally dead skin and bones.

I reared my head back in disgust as they pushed themselves up and stalked towards us, low groans and growls escaping their crooked jaws.

"What are those things?"

Sigurd's eyes widened, "Draugr." I'd never seen the expression on his face since we'd met him. But he actually looked...a little worried.

"What are Draugr?!" I said impatiently, ready to find out what was so threatening about these husks.

"The Dead." He said, standing still, "Dead Vikings. They are the fallen ones that don't make it to Valhalla..." He smacked himself on the head, "By Asgard, no wonder Hannes told me not to come down here. Matt, this is not good!"

"What's the big deal?!" I said in disbelief. Sigurd's scared of three slow zombies? The dude casually killed eight storm spirits earlier, and those things were way more powerful than these Draugr. They didn't even have an aura, but I didn't need to read it. They were crippled, slow, and thin. What could they do?

"Watch out!" He tried to warn me, but by the time I turned around, the three dead Vikings were on me. They were much faster than I thought, and the force of their tackles knocked me on my back. They slashed at me with their sharp fingernails, and bit at me with their teeth. The one with the Axe picked up his weapon and prepared to hit me with it.

I got to my sense and kicked the first one off of me, sending it straight to the ceiling. It hit it and came back down. I expected it to crumple into ash, or it's bones to scatter, but no, it got right back up, and ran at me faster than sound. Yes, faster than sound. I'm way faster than sound myself, even faster than light, but that was impressive for a bunch of Zombies. And the strength of their tackle...just what the hell were these things?

I was about to finish off the one I kicked, but Sigurd handled it. He had a sword somewhere on his body the entire time, hiding it beneath his cloak. It was about three feet long, a cutlass sword, the kinds that pirates use.

He sliced all three in two, his green aura fusing with the blade of the cutlass, and they crumbled to nothing.

He offered a hand, I grabbed it and he pulled me up.

"Draugr are very fast, and very strong." He said.

I scoffed, "No shit. Just what are these things?"

He gripped his sword, "Like I said, dead Vikings that don't make it to Valhalla, either by life choices, or if the waiting line is too long. They are stuck where they died, as the undead. I remember...something about a massacre some few centuries ago, but I had no idea it was here! There must be over a million of them!"

My jaw dropped, "A million?!"

He nodded grimly, "Yes, Matt. This is why the cavern is dangerous. I should've known, I was foolish to come here!"

I got in a fighting stance and clenched my fists, we heard about a hundred more cracks, all going at the same time now, the sound was deafening, and it was coming from the path we just walked...

Then the roars came. Loud growls and groans from the Draugr echoed and boomed across the cavern, like an army of the dead. They all came bustling through the opening, falling on each other and snarling wildly. They wanted nothing more than to eat us both for dinner.

I gritted my teeth, "Just how strong are they?!"

Sigurd's aura spiked, and rose with a shockwave that knocked the Draugr back a few feet. "They have great strength, speed, and durability. Laughable compared to us one on one, but with a few thousand of them, or even a million...don't hold back. Give it your all, Matt."

I had a feeling there were a lot of them. We had come here, we knew what we signed up for, so we'd have to get ourselves out. No holding back.

The Draugr charged us in dozens, doing everything they could to get past each other and to us.

That was where the Chaos began.

I can't even fully describe what happened next. But for about three hours, we fought wave, after wave, after wave of dead Vikings. When it first began, Sigurd and I went to work. I used my full base power to take out as many as I could. They came at me, and I punched, kicked, bashed, headbutted, elbowed, and kneed all at light speed. You name it, I did it. Sigurd was right next to me, using his sword and going a little slower than I was, but effectively cutting down at least one hundred and fifty of the monsters.

After about thirty minutes, we thought we had it. We had done just fine with what we had, me in my base, and Sigurd just striking with his aura infused sword.

Then the second wave came.

The narrow opening the first wave came through burst open like a dam. Several large pieces of ice fell to the ground in boulders, and a much, much wider opening formed. Hundreds upon hundreds of Draugr could be seen from here. I saw just a pure black sea of them, all running and flailing their arms wildly, mouths agape and snarling hungrily.

"Holy shit..." I had said, just before they connected with me.

"Don't give in!" Sigurd said, and they clashed with us.

To start, they all piled on top of me. Using their combined strength to actually force me to the ground. They punched and scratched at me, and I actually felt the force of it, not pain, but the force of their combined flurry of blows. That was a testament to their strength, when I could actually feel the weight behind it.

I was on the ground, shoving four at a time off of me, kicking another dozen, punching some more, grabbing some's heads and crushing them with my brute strength, when some decided to sneak behind me.

They had darted around when I was distracted, and since they have no aura, and it was dark, I didn't know. Two of them kicked me in the spine and I skidded forward a foot. I turned around to swat them with my forearm, but they had already clung to my back. They opened their disgusting mouths and bit down on my neck as hard as they could."

I winced, it was like a painful bee sting, they had sharp, titanium like teeth on them, and I could tell to any other person, it would've ripped them to shreds, but I'm not normal.

I reached over my shoulders and gripped their heads, swinging them over my head and throwing them in the crowd of oncoming Draugr. They connected and knocked about twenty back on their feet. I jumped up and with a shout, brought my fist to the closest one's head. The force and shockwave blew his skull completely in shatters, as did fifty of the rest. Each of their skin and bones flew everywhere, clanking on the floor.

With a chunk down, I checked on Sigurd. He too had a pile up. There were even more on top of him, their limbs like motors as they tried to kill him. I couldn't even see his body, just a pyramid of Dead Vikings. I stepped forward to help, but he didn't need it.

His aura gave a short surge, and each Draugr, probably more than a hundred, all glowed a bright green. Quickly going from their dead hearts to their entire body. They levitated off of Sigurd, and flailed around wildly, growling loudly trying to escape.

Eventually the horde was lifted off the ground completely, and I could see Sigurd. He was at the very bottom, on one knee, with one hand in the air, it had his green aura around it. He was using telekinesis to control the Draugr, just like he did with the Storm Spirits. Who by the way, are much weaker than these things.

Sigurd roared, and threw them to the ceiling. The dumpster truck full of the dead hit the jagged rocks and crumbled to pieces, tiny pieces of bones fell down like rain on top of us. A few bounced off my head.

I jogged over to him, his hair was messy and his cloak was slightly torn in a couple of places.

"You good?"

He didn't respond, instead he pushed me out of the way and sliced his sword in mid air, sending a projectile of green at the oncoming wave of Draugr. The projectile took form of the slash, and looked like a straight green line written in the air. It connected with the front line of the dead, and immediately caused them to crumble in dust.

"Don't worry about me." He urged, "Keep fighting! It's not over!"

I nodded, and dodged an attempted punch from a Draugr. More came at me, and I decided it was time to bring out Viribus. I undid the necklace and squeezed the lion's head, causing it to elongate into a four foot wooden club, made from the Adam Tree.

"Come on!" I yelled, and the Draugr took that as a challenge. Even more coming at me at once, but I was ready.

I was faster than them, so it looked like they were running at normal speed to me. And I was way stronger than them, so whenever I hit one with a swipe, or bashed one on the head, the force of the blow carried over, and hit the others, taking them out too by the dozens. But the equalizer was their sheer numbers. Both of us together had killed over a two thousand by now, definitely. But there was no sign of them stopping, or getting tired, or anything slowing down.

Fine by me, I can do this. We can do this.

I let loose some more, and with each strike, stab, bash, the Draugr burst into a pile of bones by the dozens, by the hundreds. I was taking out wave after wave of them, sometimes delivering hand to hand combat strikes, weaving through the swarm of undead like I was doing a training exercise.

At one point about twenty were coming at me, viciously swinging at me. I dodged every one of them, and quickly moved myself to each one in a line, punching six in the sunken rib cage, effectively separating their two halves, then elbowing six more in the head, shattering their skull, then kicking eight more, completely obliterating them.

Sigurd was doing good too. We had been at it for an hour now, and we both weren't tired in the slightest. Which was good, because the Draugr weren't either.

Sigurd slashed and stabbed with his cutlass, taking out just as many as I was. His green light burst around the space every time he did so, giving off an explosion like sight. Every now and then when he got overwhelmed, he would use telekinesis, and the couple of hundred Draugr would glow green, stop in their tracks, and be thrown against the ice with mountain crushing force.

We were doing good. But we weren't even close to beating them.

There were too many. I mean, no end in sight at all. We continued all of this, with me using my full base strength, not the Red Aura because I didn't want Ouranos to sense me. I'm sure the Elixir has worn off by now, since it's been more than a day, so it wouldn't be smart to go full power.

But as time went on, and we fought for another hour and a half, the choices were becoming narrower and narrower. Waves and waves of Draugr kept coming, not stopping for anything. They didn't feel fear at the fact that both of us each had killed five hundred thousand of their friends, they didn't waver, they didn't care. They just kept coming.

This was getting old, and we couldn't stick around forever.

I ripped the skull clean off of one and use it as a baseball. I pitched the head at the oncoming Draugr. Before they could hit me, the skull released from my hand, and disappeared from view, shooting light speed outside of the mountain, leaving a trail of smoke and a shockwave in it's place. The thirty or so Draugr hit by that each had giant holes in their chests, and they had been lined up perfectly so, that I had hit all of them.

I'd say that was a good fastball.

Okay, bad joke- OW!

"OW!" I yelled, at the sudden sting in my eyes. They started to water and I quickly rubbed them, only to open them and find two Draugr, with their hands reared back, long fingernails aimed at my eyes.

They struck again, but this time I was ready. I brought my forehead down and simply held it there, letting them hit it. The blow immediately caused their arms to fall off and splat to the ground. I dispatched the two bastards quickly with a simple flick of my finger.

I wiped my eyes with one hand and swung my fist with the other, still fighting off the Draugr and trying to comfort my red eye.

"What happened?!" Sigurd asked. He was still slashing, using both hands effectively now. He had one on his cutlass, a Draugr stuck on it, using it to swing and kill as many as possible, and the other hand was using telekinesis, controlling several dead Vikings and crushing them with willpower, or throwing them against the ice walls.

"Damn things poked my eye!" I said in disbelief, angrily letting Red Aura encase my fist and punching a couple of hundred Draugr with it, all within a split second and insane speed.

Sigurd didn't laugh, he just grunted from a Draugr raking it's claws across his back. He kicked the dead monster and it crumbled to bones and ash, hitting the ice wall. "They are smart!" He said, "Smarter than they let on! They seem to be adapting as we go!"

"I know!" I said, summoning lightning and wind with Viribus, atomizing over fifty and forcing fifty more against the wall with the wind surge. "There's no end to them!"

"We need to defeat them somehow! Or else we'll miss the invasion!"

That wasn't meant as a joke, saying "We'll be here so long we'll miss it" No, we'd actually miss it if we didn't do something game changing. I hadn't even used my real Red Aura form yet, and Sigurd was holding back plenty of his strength as well. I knew if either one of us went all out, we could level this entire mountain area with ease, and erase the Draugr for good. But Ouranos...

I thought about it for a moment, and debated it in my mind while I continued to bash and destroy dozen after dozen of the zombie Vikings. Should we?

On one hand, we could get rid of all these pesky monsters, but doing so, we'd probably destroy the mountain, and give off some serious aura. Ouranos would know for sure we were here, if he didn't already.

On the other hand, we could run. But that was cowardly, and the Draugr would probably follow us back to Camp anyway.

On the final hand, we could continue like we are, and most likely stay down here for another twenty hours.

It was a tough choice, but ultimately I decided screw it, we're getting out of here. It was better to get back period so we could get some actual planning done, and Ouranos know about it, than to come back tired, with no time to plan at all, and half ass the invasion.

Not happening.

As I was pondering, I let my guard down for a second, and a Draugr must've remembered what his friend did, because he jabbed my eyes with his fingernails, and another sting coursed through my nose, making me stumble.

"Damn things!" I shouted, and released some of my aura, knocking back the Draugr and sending a big shockwave around the space. I heard the ice and rock crack and some of the debris fall.

I knocked and killed Sigurd's horde too, he looked at me like I was crazy, "What are you doing?"

I spread my arms out to my side, "We aren't getting out of here man, unless we use some serious power."

"But Ouranos-"

"Who cares?" I said, "So what if he knows we're here. He probably already does. In fact, I HOPE he does, because he'll be afraid! Afraid of our combined power!" I said this with a shout, and punched the ice floor, effectively cracking it and sending rippled across the circumference, dazing and tripping the oncoming wave of Draugr.

"Sigurd, are you in or not?!" I asked urgently, needing him to make a decision.

I would only go by what he said. We were in this together, so if he thought it dumb to use some of our real power here, then I wouldn't do it, and we'd continue the way we've been going. But instead of that, I got a nod, and a smirk.

"I'm in. Let's destroy them."

I smirked myself, excited to finally give these things a piece of my mind and use some actual power.

I began to talk to Sigurd as I kept swiping at the horde with Viribus, killing enough each time to allow me a minute.

"Can you use those telekinetic abilities to break the mountain?" I asked, more of a request than asking if he could actually do it.

He nodded, "Of course." His cutlass glowed and the Draugr in front of him turned green, soon falling to ash afterwards. He raised one hand to the roof of the cavern and his aura rose slightly. The entire foreseeable mountain that I could spot inside began to turn green. Sigurd was placing his aura throughout the entire mountain. Thousands of feet in length and width, the entire thing, combining the weight of all the ice and rock, it probably weighed a few million tons.

The green glow seeped up the walls like poison dripping in reverse. Soon it overtook the entire cavern, all darkness now gone, and replaced with something as bright as a miniature sun. Sigurd squeezed his fist, and everything fell apart. His aura ripped the rock to shreds, and it crumbled to shards. His energy acted as a canopy, and all of the rock crashed into it, but it didn't go anywhere. He was literally holding it up.

"Do it!" I yelled, signaling him to destroy the mountain.

He shouted, and thrust his palm in the air, and the aura dome mimicked his actions, throwing every pound of rock sideways, upways, diagonal ways, name a direction, it went there. Millions of tons of rock and ice scattered everywhere, and the sun outside immediately shone in, nearly blinding me. We had been in here so long that I'd gotten so used to the darkness. The Draugr stopped a step, and looked around to see the new environment. We were standing on icy ground, the rest of the mountain fell and crashed around us, eighteen wheeler sized boulders hit the dirt like rain, sounding like a legion of landmines had been set off.

I jumped off the ground fifty feet in the air, using Viribus to manipulate the wind under me and keep me levitated. I finally got a good look at the true size of the Zombie army, and boy oh boy, had we continued like we had...we'd have been here for hours.

There were millions. Okay maybe not that many, but there had to be at least one million of them. The massive horde looked like the Woodstock Music Festival crowd, heads and bodies overlapping each other, all I saw was a sea of black, decayed skin. They were standing all in the space of where the mountain was, only further proving they had all been frozen in the ice, or they just chose to stay there. The Draugr jumped on top of each other and grabbed at my boots to pull me down, snarling and howling like crazy. They couldn't stand the fact that they couldn't catch me now.

But then they turned and realized that another piece of flesh was on the ground. Sigurd. The Son of Odin realized this and gritted his teeth, holding his cutlass with both hands. He prepared himself to take on the million dead men.

But no need for that. "Sigurd!" I called, and he looked at me. I aimed Viribus at him and willed the air to circle around him. I had gotten better with Viribus, and could multitask with it now. Shoot lightning, use wind, Earth, all at the same time.

The air lifted him and brought him next to me. At first he tensed and tried to escape, but quickly realized it was for his own good.

When he stopped to a halt, he sighed and stared at our crazed fans. "Finally, a break."

"Not tired, are you?" I quipped.

He snorted, "No. But we will be if we stay here any longer, and we won't get any planning done, like you said. I agree with your plan to use some serious firepower. But what did you have in mind?"

I floated upwards to avoid one of the Draugr's that managed to get up high enough and swipe at me. They were smart, and adaptive, like Sigurd said. They had literally come up with a strategy to get us all the way up here. Some of the Draugr began to pile themselves on top of each others shoulders, and stack one by one, slowly making there way to us. Another was being thrown by two others like a catapult. We dodged it and it flew off into the distance.

"These things are really, really annoying." I said, "How are they so clever?"

"They were Vikings in life." Sigurd said quickly, not wanting to have small talk. "Vikings were clever warriors. I imagine they kept some of their wit, even in death."

The Draugr pile up was getting high enough that two more and they would be able to grab us. I swung Viribus around my head and collected a coil of electricity, then shot it at the Draugr closest to me, just inches from my boot. The lightning connected and the Draugr became a shock wire. All of them were zapped, and they disintegrated.

"Lightning?" Sigurd said, "That's your idea? You've been summoning bolts this whole time."

"Nah" I said, shaking my head, "I'm not using lightning for this. I'm gonna use the Red Beam Cannon."

He stared at me like I had just told him Ouranos was my favorite god. "What? What are you talk-" He paused, and realized what I meant, but he didn't seem excited about it, "Oh, the attack you mentioned. Are you sure about using that?"

I nodded, "I'm positive. If I can charge up some energy, I can get rid of all of them."

He studied me, then the Draugr below, and threw all doubts out the window. He knew it was our best shot.

"Fine, how does it work?"

I smirked, "Alright, I'm gonna need you to power up, release some aura. I'm gonna take a portion of it, and use it with the Cannon."

"Do you really have to name your attack? That's childish."

I frowned at him, "Don't care. It's cool, and would you rather me call it 'Charged up attack that involves stealing energy and blasting it'?"

He thought about it, then decided that would be even lamer. "No, I suppose not."

"Exactly, now power up."

Sigurd released a good fraction of his power, and his aura rose steadily. A green glow formed around him, just like mine does, and soon, it engulfed his whole body. I felt out with my sense, and there it was, his aura. It was a good size, strong and plentiful. There was plenty to do this with.

I put Viribus away, and we both fell to the ground, landed on our feet. The Draugr came at us, but Sigurd's aura kept them at bay, and I hoped it would until I was done charging this thing.

I closed my eyes and focused, forcing the howls of the Draugr to drown out, disappear with the wind. I let out a breath of air, and dug deeper into Sigurd's aura.

He must've felt it, because he asked uncomfortably, "Is that you? It feels like my intestines are being brushed up against."

I nodded, not opening my eyes. "Yeah, that's me. It's part of the process." I dug until I couldn't no more, and I found the core of his energy. I grabbed at it with my mind. It was hard to explain how that worked, but imagine your brain pulsing inside of your head, and a hot chill runs through it, all the way down to your neck. That was kind of like how it was finding a person's aura core.

I began to take his energy, and I stuck my hands out. I channeled my aura into my hands, and the Red Aura enveloped them, taking point in my palms. It was working, just a few more seconds...

"RAGHH!" A Draugr howled, I could hear it in my ears approaching me very fast. It must've broken through somehow. I wasn't sure, but given the fact that there were so many of them, I wouldn't put it past them.

I opened my eyes quickly and widened them at the Draugr, releasing a sliver of my aura. It hit it mid air and knocked it aside, causing it to crash in the ground.

"Hurry, Matt!" Sigurd said.

"Almost there!"

My hands were bright red now, and the beams outstretched several feet. This was a good sized blast, but would it be enough to take out the horde?

We had to do this now. Ouranos's base was somewhere around here, and if he occupied it, he would be able to sense our auras. But we were prepared for that. We sacrificed concealment the moment we came here.

I took a little more energy, and felt satisfied with the culmination, "That's good! You can stop!"

He did, and I saw him waver in my peripheral, nearly stumbling over. I faced the horde, who were now free of Sigurd's barrier. I held the power in my hands, not a full blast, but enough to do the job.

I let them get about five foot from me, then I let loose the cannon.

It was bigger than last night.

My arms were forced back in recoil and my boots skidded a few inches on the ice. The force pushing against me was strong, but I managed to stay up. The Red glow that was once stationary widened to the point of insanity. It had been contained within my palms, but when I fired, it widened to a twenty meter radius, a red cylinder of energy coiling and blasting forwards like a giant jet of light. The Cannon immediately created an enormous shockwave, uprooting hundreds of rocks and ice shards, eroding the very ground we stood on away. The Draugr were disintegrated on the spot, and I could see the million of them burn away, their dust being blown back with the force. It reminded me of a flock of blackbirds flying, only there were thousands of them. The cannon was near blinding, especially in front of my eyes, and it whirred loudly with power, making some kind of other worldly noise. The attack lasted about five seconds, more than enough time for every single Draugr to be eradicated.

The energy ran out, and the beam shrunk to a thin red line, then nothing. My hands felt warm, and they were steaming a little. I looked at them in disbelief, not imagining what a full powered blast would do to them. It wasn't until I glanced up that I realized the true damage I'd done.

There were literally no Draugr left. They had all been taken with the blast, either by the direct brunt of it, or by the surrounding force of it. No remains lied anywhere of them, not even the dust from their bones or pieces of their skin. The cannon had melted it all to nothing. But that wasn't even the crazy part, not that the attack just killed about a million Draugr. No, the crazy thing was what it did to the landscape.

I hadn't just uprooted some rock and ice, I had rearranged the entire scope of the mountain area. Thank Olympus I missed Camp Asgard's mountain, which was to our right, a safe enough distance away. I had instead hit everything in front of me, and left a trench as far as the eye could see. The blast hadn't stopped, it kept traveling straight until it shrunk away. That thing moved at the speed of light too, there was no telling what all it had hit. I remembered there being a lot of sea in that direction, so hopefully, it didn't hurt any innocents. As for what it did run into, it hit a mountain even bigger than this one in the distance that I had seen earlier in front of the sunrise, and completely disintegrated it. All that was left was the very bottom, looking like the largest circular stage on Earth.

I looked down into the Abyss of a trench I created, my jaw dropping. I saw the dirt walls on the sides go about a hundred feet down, but I knew it was longer. You could probably fit a couple of Lady Liberty's in there, standing upright.

I couldn't believe the amount of destruction that had caused. I mean yeah, my aura had gotten high at that moment, but it wasn't as much as my usual Red Aura form. I was combing Sigurd's powered up strength with my own base strength. But still...I'm glad it went away after a few seconds, otherwise it could've lopped off half of the planet. I needed to work on it, bad. And try to aim upward some in the future, or learn how to stop it quicker.

Sigurd's good eye was wide, "By Asgard...that was incredible. You completely obliderated them..."

I tried to play it off coolly, but on the inside, I was kind of freaking out a little. If not even a full powered blast could do that...then what would a fully charged Cannon do? Thinking about the possibility, I started to believe what my father said about it's power, and how destructive it was...

"Yeah" I said breathlessly, "Glad we got rid of them. Now we can get back to Camp and end this war."

He was still gawking, "Matt, you just...with the attack...all at once..." He was muttering a bunch of other things I couldn't understand, but the point was, he was stunned by the display, and almost a little cautious of me. I noticed him take a step back when I got closer, like he was just now realizing the power I could bring out.

"Sigurd, it's cool man. I'm not gonna bite."

He just stood there for a moment, and then shook his head, "Of course. Forgive me...I just didn't expect that. With you, wow, we'll be able to end this for sure. That was a god like display of energy."

I shrugged, "Hey man, some of it was yours too. You've got a powerful aura Sigurd, don't cut yourself short."

His mouth twitched into a semi-smile, and he looked around, pacing the area, "This is good" He said, "We now have a clear open way of charging Ouranos's base, at least from the ground."

"Where is Ouranos's base?" I asked, trying to find it for the past few minutes, but not able too. I had looked at the still intact mountains, and found no sign of a base anywhere, or even so much as a tent.

He pointed behind me, "There. It is shrouded by a barrier, so that it can't be seen. But I have different sight than others, and I spotted it with this eye."

The place he pointed to was like Camp Asgard's mountain, only even taller and flatter, having several places where you could easily have over a hundred people walk and be completely fine. I saw no base, but I trusted what Sigurd said, and didn't doubt that Ouranos could hide it if he wanted to.

"His control over the mist, as you called it, is extraordinary." Sigurd said, "Even demigods couldn't see it, and I couldn't for a long time. Until I scanned the area with my eye one day, just to see. And lo and behold, I did. It seems to be something he crafted, not an abandoned fort or anything."

I raised a brow and gestured to the larger rock structure, "He made something on that? How? He doesn't have a physical form." I never took Ouranos for a carpenter.

"I imagine he made someone else do it. I've only studied his past in your pantheon for a few weeks, but one thing I do know about him...is that he doesn't do many things himself. Not out of cowardice, but just the fact that he can."

Just the fact that he can. Yep, that was Ouranos.

I had to swallow my distaste at the thought of him, "Sounds like Ole' Ouranos to me."

He continued, "Vikings never built bases of their own, they were usually on the go, or stayed on ships. That's why I don't think the building was already there. Ouranos had it constructed, and that means it will be nigh impenetrable, even without the barrier."

"You have a plan?"

He shook his head, "Not yet. But I'm hoping we'll make one together. All of us." He looked over at me seriously, "The fate of this war rests on our hands, and we can end it. I know it. Just the way we defeated those Draugr, we can defeat Ouranos."

I nodded, smiling. We stood in silence for another moment, staring at the supposed spot of Ouranos's base, when I remembered something. My vision. The one in the savanna.

"Hey Sigurd" I said, getting his attention, "Can I...tell you about a vision I had. I want to know what it means."

He nodded, "Sure. But can we talk about it on the way back, I think it's about time we go. The wolves have probably deserted the area, at least I hope they have."

We walked around the new flat land now, towards where the wolves had gone. I used my aura sense to find them, and they had run away, but not too far from us. We found them laying in the snow a mile away from where we had been. Sigurd and I hopped into the sleigh and he snapped the reins, signaling a take off.

We started immediately, and made our way back to Camp. As we rode, Sigurd waited patiently for me to talk about my vision.

So I began, "About the vision, It's probably the weirdest I've ever had."

He agreed disdainfully, "I hate those. Used to have them all the time on quests. What was this one about?"

"The thing is, it's relatively peaceful, and not dangerous at all. But for some reason, I get this feeling of dread and a looming threat in my gut, and it's like I want to run, but I can't."

"What happened?"

I sighed, "I've been having the same vision for nearly every night over the course of this quest. I'm in the African Savanna, it's close to dark, and there's no trees, animals, insects, or anything except a watering hole, two lions, and a man in a suit."

Sigurd bobbed his head with each noun, and repeated it with a look of puzzlement. "A watering hole, two lions, and a man in a suit." He shook his head, "Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke."

"It never changed, not once. Until last night..." I said, "Every other time, the two lions would always drink from the watering hole, one a full grown male, and the other a cub. The man stood at a distance on a hill, watching them patiently. Slowly over the periods of these visions, the cub has grown slightly, and last night, he had become an adult, or really close to one anyway. It was still noticeable which was older and younger."

He listened, but kept his eyes on the snow path. We were close to Camp. "Continue" He said.

"They were drinking the water at different speeds, the older one drinking slower, and the younger lion drinking faster. The man stood behind them this time, about fifteen feet away or so, and checked his watch every few minutes. Whenever he did that...this sound, this ear numbing sound of a ticking clock would ring in my head. I have no idea why that creeps me out so much, but it does."

He kept quiet, and waited for me to say more, but I didn't. I just looked at him like a patient would to his therapist. Expecting some kind of answer.

He took my silence as a sign I was done. "Is that it?" I nodded.

"Well...that is a very odd vision. Really, really odd that you would be seeing that. It doesn't seem to relate to anything about the quest, so maybe it's about your personal life."

"But what would that be?" I asked helplessly, "Am I being told that I drink water too quick, or to take care of animals? Avoid men in suits? What's the hidden meaning here, Sigurd?" I knew I was being impatient and demanding with him, but I couldn't help it. It was honestly driving me crazy. After a while of seeing it, I wanted to know what it meant.

He put up a calming hand, "The man in the suit, what did he look like?"

"Uh...well, like I said, he wore a suit."

"Be specific."

I racked my brain and remembered his appearance piece by piece. "Okay...he was about forty years old, and he looked like he was from the Industrial Age or something like that. He wore a top hat, a black suit, tie, pants, and dress shoes. Um, his face was emotionless and neutral, and he had a thick handlebar mustache for some reason."

Sigurd nodded widely, seemingly getting something out of that. "So he looked like a businessman then?" He asked.

I wasn't sure. I mean yeah, he did I guess. "Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"He checked his watch right? He dressed nice, had a nice appearance, and a handlebar mustache."

I nodded again, not seeing the point. "Yeah, he did. Where are you getting at with all of this?"

Sigurd tightened his lips in thought, "I'm not sure why there are lions there, or what the drinking thing means, but I might have a theory on who the man is. Though it is a long shot. Actually probably a really big long shot."

I turned all the way in my seat so my whole body was facing him, "Who do you think it is?"

He tilted his head, "Not so much as who, as in what."

I wasn't sure what he meant. Was he saying the guy was some kind of god in disguise? But that doesn't make any sense. You use the word who to talk about gods and goddesses. So did he mean a monster?

"Not quite" He said, reading my mind. "I believe the man in the vision represents a much more powerful thing than a monster."

"Well, what is that?"

His face darkened, and he said evenly, "I believe the man you saw...was Death."

I just sat in my seat and stared at Sigurd, not even sure what to say to that. That guy? Death?

"Wait a minute. You've lost me." I said, "How in the world did you get Death, from that guy? The dude in the top hat is the Grim Reaper?"

Sigurd shrugged, "In many tales The Reaper is described as an accountant. A businessman that does what he needs to do, collects souls and takes them to wherever they go next."

Accountant? I mean okay, the guy looked like one. But from the eighteen hundreds maybe. No, the theory was too loose.

But I entertained the idea, "So by Death, do you mean the god of death? Like...Hades? Hel? Thanatos? Or someone from another pantheon?"

He shook his head with uncertainty, "I honestly don't know. I cannot be for sure. I'm only throwing the idea around, Matt. I'm not saying for sure that this man is death, just theorizing. Oh, and Hel is not a god, she is a goddess. But I suppose she could take form of a man if she wanted."

I felt a headache coming on, this subject confusing me more and more. "So if it's not a death god that we know of, or even a death god at all. What is it?"

"Think about it. Hades and Hel are just two deities of death. But they are only the deities for their pantheon. Maybe this incarnation of Death is the Universal incarnation. The most powerful form of it. Not a god, but a sheer form of the thing known as Death."

I reared my head back, and thought about that. It...made some sense, that there was a force of Death out there, that transcended even the gods' control. But I wasn't sure. I needed to just let it go, and forget about the vision. It wasn't important, it was just pesky. Stopping Ouranos is what's important. I needed to focus on that.

I slid back into the sleigh seat, "Thanks Sigurd. That...helped."

He could tell I wasn't really feeling better about it, but he decided not to pry, and we were silent the whole rest of the way back.

It only took about ten minutes, and we came upon the final slope of the mountain, the one leading to the Camp entrance. There were a line of Campers waiting for us. It looked to be over fifty teenagers, probably the whole Camp, all standing around the front. And in the middle were my friends and father, all relieved to see us back. They obviously saw the explosion and heard the intense sound of the cannon. Both Malachi and my father probably felt our auras from all the way over here.

Sigurd turned to me as we pulled up to the gate, "Well Matt, the pathway is cleared, thanks to you." He gave me a hint of a smile and clapped me on the shoulder, "Let's go plan an invasion."

(000)

What do you think the vision means?

Anyway, a bit of a half dialogue, half fighting chapter. Hoped you all liked the Draugr fight, I felt it was pretty good, but not the best I've done, and I probably could've done better. Matt and Sigurd working together was cool though, I thought, and I know that Draugr in some Norse myths can actually enhance their size, but I kept that part out.

Feel free to let me know what you thought.

Next chapter will be out soon.

Until Next Time.