Chapter 21: The Son's Fire

"You're…what!?" Atreus uttered with complete disbelief. "You're sure?"

Angrboda gave him an irritated brow raise as she nodded. "Mhmmm."

Atreus fiddled with the knife in his hands, momentarily forgetting what he usually did during conversation with his hands, or even to breathe. After accidentally knicking himself on a finger as he nervously fumbled the blade, he set it down on the bed beside him deeply exhaling. "You're just, sure, for sure?"

His love sighed, "Loki, yes, I'm sure. Are you okay?"

Blinking he shook his head and snapped out of it. Before their conversation began she had instructed him to sit on the bed. He was glad for her foresight. "Yes, I'm okay, are you?"

She smiled, "Uh huh."

Thoughts raced through his mind a million steps a second as he tried to focus. "I'm happy, I am. Believe me, I really am. It's just…surprising is all. I wasn't expecting.. I mean I was expecting it eventually, just not like this soon."

His head fell down into his palms which rested upon his knees as he sat. Somewhere outside the snoring of a very large wolf echoed through the valley. Its vibrations lightly shook their walls and bed with each booming sound. They had learned to sleep through it.

"I don't know if I'm ready," he whispered as he stared down at the wooden floor between his feet.

He felt loving hands reach over his shoulders, his soulmate softly bent over and embraced him where he sat. "You'll do as well in this as you do in everything, which is amazingly. I know it's ahead of schedule…very ahead of schedule. And if you need time, I get it. I've known for a week now and was waiting until you were here for a night to tell you. If you need to go clear your head and report back in a few days, I understand."

Atreus' head shot up now to look up at those flawless, loving brown eyes of hers. "I don't need time. I'm here, with you. We'll do this together. We raised a giant wolf together, haven't we? That kinda prep work has gotta count for something at least."

She smiled, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "So, do you want to wait to tell your father and the others?"

"YES!...er I mean, yes. We should wait. I don't…I honestly don't even know how to broach that topic with him. That is.. Oof, that is just something I don't know how to talk to him about. Did you know that he tried to sit me down for a talk on how to woo you? And treat you? We'd already been together for half a year at that point, ugh. Good ole dad, heh..," he finished with a chuckle. A deep exhale escaped his lips, and he leaned forward resting his head on Angrboða's stomach as she stood in front of him. Her hands went to his shoulders again, touching and gently stroking his back and scalp in an effort to alleviate his stress.

"He'll be happy for us. You don't think so?"

With a groan Atreus let his head further shift weight to his lover's embrace. "I know he will be, it's just. He doesn't deal well with change. He'll probably tell me I've been really irresponsible, that we aren't wed, I dunno. I can just picture his growls and stern scoldings so vividly, years of experience I guess. I know eventually he'll be happy for us, but he'll just give the whole 'we're too young, we're not ready' speech."

"Orrrr, he would just be happy for us?" Angrboða has an almost disturbing knack for always looking on the positive side of anything. She was the most positive person he had ever met. Granted, there was not a particularly high bar since most of his allies were grumpy, distrustful gods, ornery dwarves, or mysterious deities from other lands.

"Five years ago I left to try and find what giants I could. I wanted to help our people rebuild, not die out. I've managed to find two giants in those five years so far and neither wanted to return to Jotunheim, they'd rather stay where they were. Where they had learned to call home. I don't blame them but, this mission I put on my own shoulders isn't going exactly as I hoped. I just worry that…with this big change. That mission will have to be put on hold, maybe forever. And maybe my father will think I failed…" His shoulders dropped. Atreus knew his father was incredibly, undeniably proud of him. Nothing would change that. But Kratos was the Ghost of Sparta, the God of War, the new Allfather in the nine realms practically. Atreus, Loki, he was just a giant-god hybrid that had yet to truly do anything besides assisting in ending Ragnarok.

"Bullshit,' she sternly replied.

He gazed up at her now, taken back by her forceful reply. "What?"

Angrboða's hands shot up in disbelief. "Bullshit! Your dad loves you. I'm pretty sure he came close to saying he loved me once! He isn't going to view you as a failure. What you set out to do was practically an impossible task from the start, and even then you still managed to find two giants! So what if they don't want to move back here? They're happy there. You didn't leave to bring us all together. You went out there to just find our people. It's only been five years, and you're a god. Get over yourself, you've still got a lot of life ahead of you. And if you think for a moment that this is going to stop you, or stop me from joining you out there, then you're a fucking idiot!"

A smile traced his lips as he laughed, standing to hug her. "Thanks," he whispered in her ear. "You know I love you, right?"

She returned the hug and kissed his cheek. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Besides, technically us having kids is a way to find more giants too."

He pulled back to look into her eyes once more, before taking her up in a deep, passionate kiss. His arms found their way to the curves of her hips, as he pulled her in tight against him.

Leaning back with a few pats to his chest she mused, "Careful, young man. I believe that's how this little problem got started in the first place."

Why am I thinking of that now?

He ducked, nearly a second too late, deflecting the death god's blade with his katana. With a quick follow up, Atreus managed to land a slash across its human chest. Jumping back to give a good amount of distance between the two, his eyes never dropped from his opponent. The god looked down at the wound Atreus had inflicted, a thin line of black blood beginning to dribble out of it. A moment later, the wound sealed back up, and the death god was once more untouched. It was so fast that ranged combat with arrows was pointless as it could close the gap in a heartbeat. Ingrid tried to fight and cover for Atreus as best she could but they were fighting the losing end of a stalemate.

This had been the pattern of the last fifteen or so minutes. It seemed like with both Apophis before and this new enemy now, all Atreus could do was dodge and deflect. No wounds he was able to achieve remained for long. The creature called itself Whiro, not a god or demon Atreus had heard of yet in his travels. He wondered if his father had crossed paths with a monster as abhorrent as this before settling in Midgard.

The giant's thoughts were brought back to the current battle as Whiro teleported to Atreus' right, blade raised and prepared to attack. However, it was not the bladed arm that struck, but a swift punch with its mortal appearing hand after it shifted down to come up from below. The blow was powerful, Atreus felt a rib crack as it connected with his side. Even with the young giant's speed and agility he barely managed to get his torso mostly out of the oncoming fist's path. If he had failed to move, Whiro's fist would have punched clean through his body without a doubt.

The force of the blow sent Atreus flying back twenty or so paces, crashing into the sand. But before the nightmarish creature could continue its assault, it paused, as a strange yet recognizable sound arose from behind Atreus. The man stood, dusting his pants clear of sand, and turned to look over his shoulder. The all too familiar rippling aura of a space tear was roughly ten steps behind him. From it, emerged a smirking Angrboda wearing the same armor from the previous night's battle in Giza.

The giantess came to stand beside her lover, giving him a quick up-down with her eyes. "How ya doing, hun?"

Atreus cracked a smile, spitting a bit of blood to his side as he wiped his face and stood straight. "I was handling it."

"Oh weeeere you?" She mockingly retorted with a raise of her brow in suspicious doubt.

Nodding, he reached down to pick up his katana from where it lay beside him. "Yes, you sure you're up for this? He's a pretty nasty one."

Angrboða reached behind her and withdrew a golden cylinder about a foot in length. "Atreus I'm only a few weeks pregnant, I can still fight. I know you're not about to tell me to go home."

"No, no. Nothing like that, I know you can handle yourself. Do you want the katana or the staff?"

Smiling, she twisted the cylinder twice in her hands as it began to glow. "I'll go staff, I've been practicing with it after all." The golden item in her hand suddenly extended, now stretching seven feet. Golden ornamentation of dragons, mountains, and rivers were etched into the staff's body from tip to tip. The giantess spun it with skilled ease around her a few times, tossing it up in the air, catching it behind her back, and flipped it back up to rest along her shoulders.

Their opponent had not moved from its spot, waiting patiently as it assessed the newcomer to the sandy battleground. Whiro's head was ticking with bizarre, jerked movements as it tilted its skull from side to side. Its jaw cracked open, and words flew forth once more into the pair of giant's minds.

I smell it. New life. It smells so sweet, fresh. I must have it. Its skull will join me, become one with me. Where is it? Must…bring deaaath.

The words hissed into their heads and Angrboda reacted with a disgusted expression as her lip curled. "What was that? Did that thing just talk to our mind? What did it say?"

Yes…there it is. I smell it. You, the woman. You have new life within you. I will split you open and feed on both yours and the new life's souls. Must feed…

"He, uh, can tell you're pregnant. And wants to add our skulls to that dress of his.." Atreus uttered as his eyes glowed white, translating the monster's words in his head. Whiro was growing more animated, its arms tensing as its body began to slightly shutter with what Atreus could only guess was excitement.

Swinging the staff around now to point directly at the death god, she glared. "I know you're not threatening my unborn child, creature. You want my baby? You have to get through one very protective mother, a very powerful father, and one very, veryscary grandfather. Best of luck."

Atreus looked to his love with a smirk, and she returned his gaze briefly with a wink, before the two charged. They closed the distance quickly, katana striking for the torso, the staff coming down on their foe's right shoulder. In the blink of an eye, Whiro was behind them, and their attacks slashed through nothing before thudding to the sand. From the corner of her eye Angrboða saw the monster's large blade coming for her back, so she twisted and blocked it with her staff just in time. The death god was frighteningly strong, but Angrboða was a giant, and no pushover herself.

Spinning the staff low, she swept it under the blade as she shrugged it off, and landed a quick hit to its skull and three to its chest. Atreus followed up swiftly with a slash across its stomach, deep enough to gut it had it not been for Whiro's ability to heal. Angrboða didn't cease though, as Whiro brought the blade back for another assault, she ducked under it with ease and continued her spinning flurry of blows across its human chest and skull. Atreus jumped back to get out of her way, she really was a menace with the weapon. With her height, long armed reach, and the length of the weapon itself, she had quite the attack range.

The pair continued their assault over the coming minutes, but those minutes felt like hours. Whiro would disappear and reappear instantly, pressing its attack only to be dodged, parried, and counter attacked. This pattern would repeat over and over, neither side seemingly gaining much favor in the duel. For how monstrous the death god appeared and how unwieldy the large arm blade was, it moved with such a speed the giants could barely react in time when it had moved. Bast had been fast, but this was an otherworldly capability for speed. Atreus wasn't sure if it was teleporting or truly just moved at that level of undetectable velocity. Regardless, the blows and defensive maneuvers were so quick neither he nor his partner could put much strength into their movements. Their only advantage was their number, and Whiro having to deal with two weapons striking for it instead of one.

Currently, Angrboða was engaged in a quick rush of blows, blood dripping over her right eye from where Whiro had managed to just slice the skin with the tip of its scythe as she ducked. Whiro snapped out of its stun from the assault and grasped the giantess' staff tightly followed shortly by a screech as it yanked it over its head to throw it into the distance. His opponent, however, was not so easily dismissed as her grip kept its strength on the golden metal and she flipped over Whiro with it. Landing behind him she twisted the staff, freeing it from Whiro's hand, and quickly brought it through the cascade of shadows and skulls flowing beneath its waist. As the staff crashed through the bones and flame-like darkness, it managed to break a few jaws and crack a handful of the skulls. Some of the smaller ones were outright shattered. As the weapon continued through the shadowed dress and out the other side it felt little surprisingly little resistance. While Whiro had a tangible upper body, its lower body appeared to be fully ethereal save for the bones littering it. The death god looked down at its damaged skulls and let out another loud scream.

Angrboða winced from the piercing cry, but continued to attack with a rapid frenzy of hits. "You like it? It was a gift to Loki from a monkey god out in the Far East. It takes the strength of the one swinging it and-"

Her taunting ceased for a moment as her grip tightened, she planted her feet firmly while her hips twisted powerfully. The staff's golden pommeled end connected directly with the temple of Whiro's main skull atop its shoulders. The strike hit with such force that it kicked up some sand around them, and left a sizable crack across its previously unblemished, shined white surface.

"It multiplies the force of its wielder by eight times," she finished with a smirk, jumping back to her lover's side, smiling.

Whiro's hand reached up to its deformed face. Its long, bony fingers tracing along the crack that had just been split across the hard bone. The deep wound Atreus managed to inflict had healed already, but the cracks to its skull, and the damage to the ones dangling below its waist had remained. It appeared the god could heal its flesh, but not its prized collection of bones.

REEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

The scream erupted suddenly. It was similar to the ear splitting cry from earlier, but much more intense. Angrboða was forced to clasp her hands to her ears in pain. The effort did nothing though, as the loud attack came from within their own minds. Atreus was doubled over, eyes slammed shut, teeth clenched. He could feel a small trickle of blood beginning to drip from within one of his ears. Within a heartbeat of the shriek's end, Atreus opened his eyes to see Whiro standing tall over Angrboða's figure as she was doubled over in pain.

He went to shout, but before he could move Whiro's blade swung down. It was parried by a returned Ingrid, after she had been flung into the distance a few minutes before. Ingrid knocked the scythe aside with enough room for it to miss his partner, slamming into the ground behind the giantess' body. Pressing its assault, the self-moving blade left a few slashes across Whiro's bare chest, refusing to let it rest. Angrboða came to from her disorientation and brought her staff directly up, striking Whiro's head square in the lower jaw. The jaw fractured and splintered from the contact, several of its teeth knocked loose and flew to the sands a few paces away. The death god was knocked back to the ground, collapsing to the sand with a roar. Its hand reached out with blinding speed, wrapping around Angrboda's ankle and ripping her from her feet.

Whiro threw her into a nearby boulder jutting out from the sand with enough force that it rippled out in waves of cracks around her point of impact. Another second later and it was on her again, its hand flattened as it struck straight ahead with pointed fingers and sharp nails. It was aiming for her stomach. Luckily, Angrboda caught her breath in time to barely shift her stomach a few hairs to the left. Whiro's hand still pierced her torso, but now off to the side, not directly at its center. Blood splattered out from the giantess' open mouth as she screamed in pain. Whiro hissed in success as it now brought the blade down once more, aiming for her neck. Ingrid renewed its efforts of aid and distraction as it came down on Whiro's wrist, cutting it clean off, giving Angrboða freedom to move and roll out of the way. Three quarters through her roll however, she crumbled in pain and collapsed to the sand.

"ANGRBODA!" Atreus howled as he glowed gold and transformed into a large, powerful rhino. His new, bulky form charged Whiro, catching it off guard as it dueled Ingrid. Whiro was impaled right through the chest with his long horn. With a shake of his head, the death god was sent flying thirty feet, crashing into a nearby dune with a burst of dirtied clouds. Having gained them a moment, the young giant transformed back, and went to his lover's side to help her up.

She winced and stuttered in pain as she leaned against him, "It's no good. I barely got out of the way in time, I'm losing a lot of blood. I don't know what else we can do. We've hurt him, barely, but we can't kill him."

Atreus' mind raced as he thought of what his father would do. He had a lot of tools at his disposal, much like Kratos did, but it seemed none of them were the right tool for killing a death god. If he had the blades though, their primordial fire had been the main threat their opponents feared, at least in Thoth's opinion.

Fire, if only we had some kind of powerful weapon. The kris blade Set had, or father's blades. Something…

His head snapped up, as he glared down through hooded eyelids to where Whiro was slowly righting itself from the ground. Atreus had not gone through the battle without injury either. While not losing the amount of blood his partner was, he had sustained several cuts and wounds along his arms and chest from the edge of Whiro's scythed arm. He had also drained so much of his energy and stamina dodging Apophis even before Whiro appeared. The young giant could tell he was nearing the end of his limit.

Swallowing deeply once, he quickly glanced to his lover braced against him. "We need primordial fire, that's what can hurt them, I think. There's only one thing I can do, I have to try it."

She shook her head in quieted alarm. "You want to try that? Are you sure it will work? Have you successfully done it? You only just mastered turning into an elephant, and you can't do that more than once a day!"

He set her down to the ground as Ingrid dove for Whiro to give them more time. "It's the only way, Angr, I need to do something. We can't beat him. I don't have my father's blades, this is the only weapon I have left. I think I should be able to do it, with your help."

Nodding, she resigned herself to his plan. As she sat up against his squatted knee she looked anxiously down at the ground before her sights set on the death god battling the flying sword a few dozen paces away. "Okay, what do you need me to do?"

His hand reached out to hers, and he kissed her on the forehead. "Just hold my hand tight, and try to transfer your energy, whatever giant's magic you have, into me. I think if we do that, and I hold this, it should work."

Atreus set the katana to the ground, and reached back into a pocket on his belt and withdrew a small figure. It was a dragon, carved in pure jade, with glowing red rubies for its eyes. The dragon was wrapped around itself making a perfect looped "8."

"Ready?"

His lover leaned in to kiss him, signaling she was prepared to start their last desperate effort. Their lips met, and the pair glowed golden together. Atreus felt the sudden rush of magic and power coursing into him from the woman he loved clutching his shoulders and knee. Warmth radiated out from the small jade talisman in his clenched fist. An angered roar from Whiro cried out as it flung Ingrid aside, now focusing its attention solely on the giants. It was too late, however, what was needed to be done was done. Now all that was left was for fate to favor Atreus.

Well, here goes…

His eyes closed, and a large golden cloud of transformation burst forth shrouding his body. Whiro stayed itself for a moment, waiting to see what creature the giant had turned into this time. It need not wait long, as a moment later a long flash of green bolted from the golden aura. The creature was nearly two dozen feet long, covered in brilliant, shining green scales. Its figure was long and thin, as it glided through the air with its serpent-like body. Sharp, short golden ridges reached down its back from its neck to the tip of its tail. This was no rhino, or snake, or wolf, but was a dragon.

The dragon opened its mouth in a thundering roar, its teeth bared and ready to tear into the shocked death god. Two long, golden whiskers buffeted in the wind to each side of its nose. Glowing orange eyes were transfixed only on Atreus' enemy waiting below him. Before Whiro could get out of the way, the dragon's teeth clamped down onto its chest, tackling it into the ground behind it. Atreus reeled his head back, and sent Whiro hurdling up into the air as he released his jaws at the apex of the turn. While the death god was disorientedly falling through the air, Atreus continued his attack. He flew up into after his foe, using his powerful mouth to clamp down on Whiro's shoulder, biting the bladed arm loose from its body. The giant, sickle-like blade crashed to the sand far below, as Atreus wrapped his length around Whiro's body, constricting it like a python ensnaring its prey. The foreign god's head thrashed back and forth, screaming and shouting, trying to wriggle itself free to no avail.

Small, clawed arms reached out from Atreus' sides and gripped the jaws of Whiro's primary skull. With immeasurable strength, the dragon's slim arms clutched the skeleton's fractured lower jaw and toothless upper jaw, and forced them open. Atreus' dragon eyes shifted to burn red now, as its throat began to swell and glow with a soft orange light between the scales of his underside. All the monster could do was writhe against the dragon's coils striving to free itself from the upcoming death blow, but failing.

Atreus had attempted the dragon transformation many times over the last year, but only managed to change one arm and half of his torso at most. Angr had been amused by his clawed hand and scaled chest, but the sorcerers and dragon god aiding him in the Far Eastern lands had been less so. Through the help of the talisman they gifted him, and Angrboða's magic, he had finally gained success. Now, Atreus was able to wield one of the only sources of primordial fire left in the world.

His long snout parted, and through Whiro's forced open jaws, beautiful, miraculous dragon's fire breathed down into its core. The fire tickled Atreus' throat as it spewed forth from his toothed mouth, and continued to flow down into the death god's screaming, broken maw. The near pitch black shroud of darkness coating Whiro's lower half started to give off a light orange glimmer as the blaze raged inside it. Its chest began to burn and melt from the inside out. The fire's orange-red glaze lit up the darkened night sky around them, the sole source of light for miles.

Soon, the fire flowing forth from Atreus' mouth simmered and snuffed out, as his energy finally depleted. Another golden cloud burst forth, and from it fell a now human looking Atreus and a smoking, scorched Whiro. The pair smashed into the sand fifty feet below. The young god could feel he had probably broken another rib or two and definitely damaged his shoulder. Looking around as best he could, he was unable to see where Angrboða was or if she was okay. His gaze quickly turned back to his opponent laying only ten feet from him as a low humming shrill arose from the charred body. Whiro's figure was seizing and convulsing, jittering and thrashing about as if it were possessed. Its burned, oozing chest began to swell and glow, along with the skull-coated shroud beneath it. The death god's form continued to distort as its multitude of skulls cracked open and roared in pain.

It's going to explode…

With frenzied panic Atreus attempted to lift himself from the ground, but failed with a groan of pain as his arm buckled from underneath him. Spitting out the sand coating his bloodied teeth, he frantically looked around, trying to make sure Angrboða was far enough away as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. The world around him began to darken.

I'm sorry Angr…I'm sorry father…I hope you're both okay. Safe, away from what's about to happen. If this is all I can accomplish in my life…I guess it's enough…

As he drifted off, he felt firm hands clasp his shoulder. They turned him over, and slowly lifted him. Through the nearly delirious state of his consciousness he could have sworn he heard a familiar gruff voice grunt out, "Ugh, you've gotten so damn heavy. Hold still."

I know this voice…Where do I know this voice…

Atreus felt his body being lifted, slowly. He felt himself being draped over the shoulder of someone. He wasn't that far off the ground though, as his knees and shins still rested on the sand. Whoever it was manipulating his body around, they weren't very tall.

"Fuck, you've gotten way too heavy. C'mon, stay still, I can't do this without focusing."

The next thing Atreus knew, he was lying peacefully beside an unconscious Angrboða. She was propped up against a stone wall back at Memphis' edge. Someone had placed her here, and clearly traveled quite far and fast, as they had been a ways from the remnants of the city for the battle. As his eyes slowly drooped down, he looked down to his lover's stomach. There was bandaging on it, and it appeared as if the blood loss had been greatly slowed. Someone had healed her, and gotten them both to safety. But how? And how so quickly?

As Atreus finally lost his fight to remain conscious and slipped into the darkness to sleep, he saw a figure standing over him. He didn't recognize what he wore, or the messied, long beard and hair with more white hairs now than brown, but he knew the eyes. Atreus had looked into those anxious, concerned eyes before, many times. Darkness overtook him, and he slept.