Chapter 16: The Lion and The Wolf
"Kratos, what brings you all the way out here? No trouble brewing in Jotunheim, I hope?" Angrboða mused with a smirk. She did not turn from her painting, but knew it could only be the Greek god by his aura and loud footsteps.
"No, no trouble. Your art looks…nice."
She smiled, thankful Loki had…more of a way with words, than his father. Loki had told her much of his father's past, things he said she mustn't repeat to his face that she knew. Few were keen to the truths of the infamous, former god of war from Greece. Such a long way from home, so many deaths with his hands, rivers running red with the blood from his many battles.. and yet here he stood awkwardly complimenting her art, clearly out of his element. He had a certain, unintentional charm about him. She could see why Freya had developed feelings for him.
"Thank you, it's not done, but..it's getting there. If you're here to see your son, I'm sorry to say he's not around either."
She stood now, and turned to face her guest. Paint was splattered on the front of her frock, and some on her face from the occasional wipe with her wrist. Angrboða figured she surely must look a mess, but then she remembered how Loki would always say how much he loved watching her create. "I feel like watching you paint things, make things, it's like seeing you at your truest self," he told her a few months prior when he had taken a break here between his travels. Thanks to some of the spells they had learned, and the inherent natural power of giant's magic, they could see each other often enough. With Fenrir able to create tears through distance and space, one of them could travel to the other most of the time. Since Loki had left on his journey, the pair had never gone more than a month or so without seeing each other. Angrboða had even joined Loki on a few of his journeys.
They had been in India together and met so many different gods of varying skin colors. Red, green, gold, blue. She had joined him in China, and seen long dragons slithering through the sky like serpents amongst the clouds. So many wonderful, breathtaking places, but even still, none compared to the beauty of Jotunheim. The stunning golds and oranges of the leaves and grasses. The warm, bright sky always shining down on her skin. Smells of the forest and stone at her nose, always keeping her grounded. Her home was perfect, in her eyes at least.
"I do not seek Atreus, actually, I'm here to speak with you," the stern god stated as he entered the garden beside her home. It was just a small wood hut at its core, but her and Atreus had built it together, and it felt more like home than anything ever had to her. Angrboða often liked to paint in the garden while Atreus laid beside her napping or reading, and Fenrir lay just beyond the fence looking down on them with unbidden devotion. Speaking of…
The all too familiar sounds of large paws thunderously clawing through earth grew closer as the massive wolf crawled his way on his belly towards them upon hearing the Greek god's voice. Fenrir had grown quite large in the last five years after Ragnarok, larger than Garm ever was. Probably something to do with having giant magic transfer his soul and stuff it into the hellhound's corpse. Fen probably stood a whole 25 feet taller now than he did when his soul was first conjoined to the empty body.
Kratos moved over to the low garden wall, which Fen was very careful to never break, lest Angrboða would scold him. The god's hand reached up and pet the large, wet nose as Fen's large, yellow eyes stared down with unrelenting excitement. His large tail wagged behind him and rumbled against the earth like thunder with each downstroke.
"Good boy," Kratos gently spoke as he walked to the mammoth wolf's side to pet around his jaw.
"Does this have something to do with your trip?" She posed with a smirk. "I don't get out much, but I heard through the vine the queen and yourself are making a trip south."
Nodding, Kratos affirmed, "Yes. We're sailing for the land of the pharaohs in a few days. They are afraid some of their own have turned on them, and are being assisted by gods from other lands. I doubt you'd be able to see if Atreus might be free to assist if he is not otherwise engaged?"
Angrboda knew Loki was already in Egypt, and had been for a few months now. Thoth and Ra had requested his help when he traveled there some time ago, and it had actually been him that suggested to the Egyptians to recruit his father for assistance in the first place. She smiled quietly to herself at the irony. "Sadly, I haven't seen him in quite a few weeks, but if he pops in soon I'll send him your way. So, what can I help you with then?"
The spartan left the massive wolf, who quickly took to low whimpering from the sudden lack of attention, and came to stand before her. He looked…nervous, compared to his usual stoic, emotionless visage. "I was hoping I might leave Speki and Svanna here during our absence? There will be a god arriving tomorrow to watch the realms for us while we are away, but I do not trust them to care for them. I'd feel much more peace of mind if I knew they were here in good hands with you. They're growing older, the cold gets to their bones now more I feel, and I'm not sure how motivated or able they'd be to fend for themselves for however long we are gone."
"Of course, Kratos. They're welcome here, Fen could use the company. But I feel…that's not all you want to ask me about?"
His head fell down towards the ground, thinking. "Yes. You and Atreus still see each other quite often, yes? You've even transported yourself there via portals to join him in other lands?"
The young giantess nodded.
"How?"
Her paint covered palm reached for her chin to rub it as she thought how best to explain it. The paint was still wet however, so she just smeared more yellow along her jaw.
"Giant stuff, I guess. Like how Fen opened the portal right to where you guys were during Ragnarok. I can just sort of, sense Loki's presence? I pet Fenrir, keep contact with him as I focus on that feeling. Poof, he opens a rift, I walk through, Loki's there and I'm with him. When it's time for me to come home, and Fen is here, I have this." She reached into her smock and pulled out a small orb, much like the ones giants' spirits were sealed in. This one they had made however, with the help of some dwarf craftsmen. It was stone, with some runes Kratos did not recognize along its surface.
"This is a sort of, calling home tool. I whisper home in it in the language of the giant's, Fen senses it, and opens a portal to where I am. I'm not quite sure of the specific nature, but whereas most magic is bound to one land, giant magic seems to work in most places. There have been a few areas I couldn't find or visit Loki in, but for the most part it seems like giant's magic courses through many lands, not just these lands. So Loki can do the whole eyes turning blue as he listens and speaks other languages thing, I can still perform my magic there, and Fen's portals work. Does that make sense?"
Loki's father nodded once again. "Yes. Now I have…a more sizeable favor to ask. That sphere, might I borrow it?"
One of her eyebrows raised as she tilted her head, "Expecting trouble?"
Fen stood with his ears tilted back, growling, between his family and the lion he had just sent rolling into the sands. Maahes was still a shade larger than the wolf, and was still a god, despite being transformed into a monster. "He will need our help," Kratos affirmed, charging forward.
Bast charged immediately after him, while Atreus lingered as Angrboða ran over to join his side.
"So when were you gonna tell me about this, huh?" He said with a questioning smirk.
"Well you left early in the morning the last time you spent the night with me, and I was a bit preoccupied doing.. other things if you remember. So it didn't really come up." She gave the young man a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering, "Go get 'em."
Freya landed beside the pair a moment later looking confused. "Freya," the giantess turned to the now winged goddess, "How about we let the boys go play with their pets and we help the people, hm?"
The perplexed valkyrie looked from Angrboða to Atreus before shaking her head swiftly to break the confusion and nodded. As they moved towards the city Angrboða turned back around to shout at her still standing lover, "Hey I thought I told you to get going!"
Atreus retorted with a dry, "Yeah I know." With a quick flash of golden light he turned into a falcon, and flew out to the desert.
Maahes had righted himself now, and was locked in a circular duel with Fen as they walked the diameter of an invisible arena between the two. Fangs were bared, growls that shook the earth rang out, and two titans among beasts were prepared for a duel to one of their deaths.
The lion broke the tense standoff first, rushing forward, its bizarre hand-turned paws reaching out with claws the length of a small boat extended. Before the slash could make contact though, three quick arrows to the eye from Atreus made the beast roar pain, ducking its head to the left. Just enough of a window for Fen to latch his jaws onto its neck, and bite down for dear life. Maahes thrashed about, as the wolf's teeth punctured its coat and blood began pouring down like rain to the sand below. Kratos threw his blades into the lion's forelimb, riding the chains up to give him height. In midair, he spun the blades and left a dark gash across its shoulder. Baast followed, leaping from the ground, kicking off the spear Kratos had just thrown into its shoulder, and landing on its head with deft agility. Tears still beaded the corner of her eyes, but her sense of duty and anger pushed her forward. Her lips were pulled back in grief-addled rage, her long teeth bared in a snarl as her fingernails lengthed into golden claws. With three slashes so quick Kratos could barely catch the goddess' movements, the same eye Atreus had shot arrows into moments before now erupted in a burst of blood and other fluids.
Fenrir held his jaws firm as the lion bucked against the restraint even more, the painful loss of its eye sending it into a frenzy. One of its hands cut into the wolf's back as it thrashed to be free. Kratos leapt up from below the beast now, the blades spinning forward on their chains and slashing another deep wound across the lion's outstretched limb. Atreus flew up to Fen's back, and with a swipe of his katana removed one of the fingers dug into Fen's hide. Another four heartbeats later, and two more were gone.
Withdrawing its hand from further pain, the palm slammed down into the desert, as Maahes rolled over. Fen failed to roll with the movement forcing his jaws to slip. A moment later, Maahes' bloodied, near fingerless hand slammed down upon Fen's lower jaw, trapping it shut. The other hand gripped Fenrir's neck with overwhelming strength, seeking to either crush the wolf's windpipe or snap its neck.
Kratos sent a glowing orange blade into the hand clamped around Fenrir's neck as his fingers tensed and the axe from his back snapped to his hand. The blade was put a splinter compared to the Egyptian war god's monstrous hand, but its fiery venom was surely painful. Kratos' axe charged as he flew through the air along the chain, and slammed the icy steel head into the back of Maahe's wrist. Ice erupted from the point of contact, freezing the flesh in an instant, and loosening the lion's grip. Atreus was above, shouted, "Power!" and two arrows flew down with astounding speed. The arrows punched into the icy wound and knocked out large frozen chunks of Mahee's wrist. For some reason it had only dawned on Kratos in this very moment that the reason Atreus was shouting such common terms rather than the spells in other tongues (as he had back home) was due to Thoth's glass orb in his pocket translating everything. In this brief moment Kratos wondered how many other spells, in how many other tongues his son had learned. In this moment of unusual distraction for the spartan, the massive lion slashed its arm, and sent Kratos flying into the sands fifty feet away.
"Father!" Atreus cried before resuming his falcon form to join his father's side. Bast meanwhile was distracting the beast. With the speed of lightning and reflexes that were near untraceable she pounced and flipped from side to side of her son's tortured form aiming to fix his attention on her. She was quite successful, allowing Fen to tackle Mahees broadside and leaving him with a deep bite directly into his rib cage.
A loud roar boomed through the city as Atreus landed beside his father and helped him to his feet. "Losing your touch in your old age?"
With a snort Kratos shrugged off his son's attempt at humor.
"I am fine." The spartan's gaze returned up to the dueling colossi rolling and gnashing about each other. "We've weakened it, but even down nearly a whole hand it is still not relenting. We need to target the wound on its wrist, see if we can remove it entirely. Your arrows, how many can you fire in four seconds."
"Six, maybe seven."
"Good. Can you use that trick from before, the one where you duplicate yourself?"
Atreus nodded with a smile, "Can do more than that."
The father and son charged back into the battle. Mahees had just kicked free of Fenrir's grasp, making the wolf the one to be launched back into the dunes behind the city. Bast was still attempting to combat her son, but her claws could only do so much to its incredibly tough hide. Mahees had learned as well to guard his remaining good eye, not letting his mother anywhere near it.
The transformed war god turned to face the pair of foreign attackers as Loki's eyes glowed and suddenly three dozen pairs of his father and him appeared, charging in a spread out horde. Confusion was immediate as Mahees head flicked from side to side trying to track each of the charging northern gods. With blind, enraged swipes of its unharmed hand it began destroying mirage after mirage. It was all for nought however as Atreus fell from the sky above, suddenly turning visible, and launched three arrows directly into the gaped wound in the lion's right wrist as he shouted, "Power!" A moment later, the chaos blades with their fiery charge slashed into the lion's wrist, reaching from end to end along the iced and burned flesh, removing the wrist from the hand entirely.
Father and son jumped back from Mahees' crippled, anguished form as Fen immediately jumped from a nearby dune and crashed into the beast's rear legs. Large teeth sunk into for Mahees' right thigh as it successfully rolled to safety to recuperate its wounds for a second. Fen stood, licking his lips clean of the lion's blood, his eyes glared directly at his larger opponent still.
Not three heartbeats later, Kratos heard the rush of wings, and managed to get his shield up in time for a diving attack from an unknown winged foe. The flying woman had rushed him from behind, hoping to catch him unawares. Her wings sprouted from her arms, chest to palm, and were steel with a serrated sharp edge.
"Nut! How could you do this?! You dare betray us as well?!" Bast roared as she jumped to the sands to stand beside Kratos.
Moonlight flashed along the serrated edge of Nut's wings as she smirked. "Well, perhaps if you'd been a more attentive mother, your son wouldn't be in the state you see now."
"You bitch!" The cat goddess screamed as she closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Her claws reached for the winged woman's neck, but fell just short as Nut dodged back. They didn't have much time to think however, as Maahes pounded the ground to their rear, pouncing towards them.
"We cannot fight both of them at once. Bast, you and I will face the flying one, Atreus, kill the lion," Kratos sternly ordered with a shout, not letting his eyes drop from their new foe.
Bast hesitated at first, but turned to the giant and nodded, "Give him a good death, northling."
Atreus nodded and returned to facing Mahees, shouted something Kratos' ears couldn't discern over the lion's roar, and suddenly three arrows with a violet glow pierced into the charging monster's left arm. Two heartbeats later, Fen tackled the lion to the ground, biting at its stomach. But Kratos couldn't focus on that, they had a new god on the field to contend with, and she appeared quite capable.
Nut appeared to be just a normal, mortal woman, albeit a bit taller than most. She had no animal form like the other Egyptians, and no weapons. The sole defining trait Kratos could glean were the golden wings beneath her arms. "Can you tell me anything about her?"
"She's self important, a lying and betraying bitch, and my teeth will be ripping out her throat very soon," the black pantheress hissed.
Kratos grunted, not having gained any insight as he had hoped but respecting his ally's bloodthirsty conviction.
The ring on Kratos' finger glowed, as he launched a spear at Ma'at, who deflected it effortlessly with one of her wings. In that time though, Bast was once again on her, managing to land a deep scratch on her inner thigh. She groaned in pain as the other wing came up and with a powerful swipe sent the cat goddess flying. The blades spun from the spartan's hands now as he twirled them about the sand, kicking dust at her in an attempt to blind her as he charged. The sky goddess smirked, and with a gust from her wing's the sand was blown right back into Kratos. All the while, the wolf and lion's duel of colossal proportions stormed behind them.
Before Kratos could fully react, Nut had flown through the twirling chains, aimed straight for the vulnerable god's neck. One of the few downfalls of the blades is that when they're thrown out, if an enemy is fast and nimble enough, they can shoot right through the extended chains for a vulnerable Kratos. Luckily though, the blades weren't the spartan's only tool for combat. The shield triggered from his wrist, blocking the wing's razor edge from slicing his neck by a few hairs. Nut spun, and with a bare hand this time, grabbed the Greek god and lifted him. Her fingers were strong, very strong. It took a not insignificant portion of Kratos' strength as his fists clenched that hand to keep it from strangling him as they flew. The pair left the monster's battleground now, and were flying over the city.
As he gripped the Egyptian goddess' arm, his body dangling below loosely as they flew, he gazed up at his captor's face. Nut's expression was facing directly back down at him, contorted in a glow of righteous, sinister pleasure. She looked down at the spartan with a malicious delight as her fingers continued to clench around his neck. Her devilish lips parted, "Filthy northern shit. He dare bring you into our country to save his own pathetic ass."
Suddenly, something slammed into Nut with blurred speed from the side. The sky goddess' grip loosened, sending Kratos falling to the earth hundreds of feet below. The last thing he heard as the wind whipped around his ears, drowning out all other sounds but these words, was a familiar voice roaring, "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HIM!"