2006, 30th January

Reykjavik, Iceland

Lucia was getting tired of their lack of progress, when sirens blared by on the street outside, and Magnus let himself in, his expression grim.

“What’s going on?” She asked him.

“Suicide at the hospital nearby.”

“Hmm.”

“You want to check it out?”

“What, morbid curiosity getting the better of you?”

“You’ve been holed up in here thinking since yesterday. Some fresh air might do you some good.”

Lucia didn’t bother reminding him that she didn’t really need any air, and pulled her jacket on the wholly weather inappropriate T-shirt she wore, and they set off.

“You know we make shitty tourists when the only thing to pull us out of our rooms is someone who pancakes themselves outside a hospital.”

“There’s also a penis museum around here somewhere if you’re willing to go for that kind of thing.”

They bantered aimlessly making their way to the hospital through thick crowds that seemed to easily part before them, before arriving at the police blockade erected around the location.

Lucia’s eyes narrowed.

The man was mostly obscured from her vision, surrounded by detectives, and face down on the ground, but she observed enough, even from her distance.

Muscular- well developed back muscles, repeated bruising around what she could glimpse of the man’s knuckles- suggested the man was a fairly adept fighter.

The crook of his back, along with the medical brace around his waist, suggested he was admitted to the hospital for treatment of a spinal fracture, and it was not a result of having defenestrated himself.

Stained wrapping around his deltoid and clavicle also suggested more wounds other than the fracture itself, also not caused by the suicide.

Then she observed the spectators- and found something she did not expect to see.

Magnus saw it as well, evidenced by the tightening of his fists and his clenching muscles.

Victor and Hans, observing the corpse with rapt intensity.

And they caught sight of Lucia and Magnus as well.

Victor bared his teeth, somewhere between a snarl and a smile, while Hans merely narrowed his eyes.

Lucia pulled at Magnus’ forearm, drawing him out of the crowd, away from the hospital.

“Where are we going?”

Lucia could sense the restrained aggression in Magnus’ voice.

She would put that to use soon.

“I believe I’ve found Grandfather Winter. We need to get there before those two.”

“Where?”

“Airport.”

“You’re serious.”

“I’ve seen Hans ability to shift matter along states; solid to liquid to gas and back again. There was a boat at the harbour with damage to the hull from all sides. That can’t happen to a boat being used regularly unless they start to fly and are dropped in the middle of ice. Or-”

“Or Hans solidified the water around that boat to ice.”

“Yeah. That monster has probably been sunken into the ground somewhere near the airport.”

“Why would they use the airport? Apotheosis had portal networks across every major capital on Earth.”

“You saw the locked luggage in their hands as clearly as I did. They’re in a hurry”

“Hmm. Looks like someone at the organisation has taken exception to Hans and his goals.”

“If they’re in this much of a hurry, the suicide jumper had some connection to them. They want to skip before the authorities kick up a fuss. They’re on a time limit for their flight. That may be an advantage, unless they’re willing to single handedly go to war with the entire police force here.”

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Elsewhere, Victor was practically buzzing with excitement.

“Looks like Magnus has already tracked me down for his revenge. And working with that Pureblood girl too. This should be fun.”

“Pureblood girl?” Hans asked him.

“I saw her during that ritual. She was with Hilda then. So she’s the one that killed her.”

“Think she’s dangerous?”

“Ha! Certainly hope so. She should be more of a fight than the jumper, at least.”

Hans frowned sourly.

“That… was a great waste.”

“Don’t waste time pitying all the rabble you crush underfoot. That kind of sentimentality never made legends. Anyway, Magnus is the real threat. He’s strong. Maybe almost as good as I am.”

“Almost? And that’s your objective opinion?”

“You’ll find out. They’re waiting for us.”

“Don’t get carried away. We’ve stirred enough trouble here as is. Apotheosis takes a dim view of things like that.”

“Hah! You worry too much about the small stuff. It’s time to let loose.”

They had walked to a fairly flat, vacant patch of land, tiny residences dotting the land around them, and no sooner had the final syllable left Victor’s mouth that something darted from the surrounding shadows faster than Hans’ eyes could follow, slamming into the werewolf's back, and he crumpled to the side at an awkward angle, and whatever the creature had been retreated into darkness once more.

Unable to escape Hans’ supernatural perception, of course, so attuned to the field of Death.

With a thought, tangible shadows wrapped around Lucia’s waist, constricting her ribcage.

This was when a massive silver wolfman barreled at speeds barely a notch below the vampire, and swiped at Hans with cleaver-like claws.

The shields of entropy dulled the momentum of impact.

And yet, the force the beast could exert was immense, and Hans was flung a good distance away, claws having torn through his pectoral muscles.

Liquid shadows curled around him to muffle his impact against the concrete-

And then, the shadows he had always commanded with absolute certainty rebelled against him, and he felt the back of his skull collide against the hard concrete.

Lucia noticed the mage’s unshaken composure, even in the face of his grievous wounds.

Hans had not been defanged.

Magnus’ advance was stopped in its tracks by Victor, now himself transformed, shattered spine and ribs completely forgotten, and his claws dug into Magnus’ torso.

Which was when Magnus’ flesh began to glow, iron-red-hot.

Through the scent of cooked meat, Lucia let the silver serpent unfurl from her wrist, it’s fangs wet with the blood from her wrist even as she whipped herself into a rage and let it flow hot through her veins.

With a snap, the serpent tore into Victor’s flesh through the armour his thick, matted fur afforded him.

The effect was everything she hoped it would be, and Victor howled in agony, the wound refusing to seal instantly as it normally would.

Magnus, freed from his clutches, lunged at Hans, who disappeared, sinking into dry land.

As did Victor behind them.

Lucia followed the tremors, trailing them, when the road simply gave out beneath their feet.

They saw Hans rise in the air, a limb of tangible shadow wrapped around Victor, and they took to the skies.

The last look Hans gave her was one of pure hate.

Magnus pulled Lucia from the remains of the concrete beneath her, having been turned to slurry by Hans’ will.

“That… was silver?” He asked her, entirely human once more.

“Yes. The Matriarch’s gift.”

“Should’ve known the Draugr would acquire silver weaponry.”

After a pause, he added, “It’s good you had that. This whole thing could’ve gone south really quick otherwise.”

“And now we know where they buried the Grandfather.”

“Do we?”

“It’d have to be within easy access to the airport. It has to be around here somewhere.”

“That’s not specific at all.”

“Doesn’t need to be. They aren’t coming back.”

“You might be underestimating them. Victor won’t heal for a while, but he’s going to heal eventually. And Hans isn’t to be underestimated either, I doubt he’s shown us the full range of what he can do.”

Lucia shrugged.

“Neither have I.”

She felt her blood boil within her with unspent potential energy, the power within it yearning to be unleashed.

“But it’s true, we mostly caught them by surprise, and we still didn’t take them down. But they’ll hesitate to come here. They’ll take their time now, lay low. And since the authorities may be looking for them in Reykjavik, and I doubt they’ll get far in their present condition, there aren’t a lot of options for them. Especially if they’ve fallen out with Apotheosis.”

Magnus pulled on the clothes he had left by the wayside to prevent their destruction when he transformed.

“The Spirit Plane, maybe?”

“Is that a good idea in their present condition?”

“Depends. Some parts of that realm are more dangerous than others. Most of the spirits you come across, especially in well settled areas like this, are docile creatures.”

“Then I suppose you want to follow them? Because that’s a bad idea. Cornered beasts are always more dangerous.”

“I agree. But we've bought some time, so we can afford to let buried monsters lie, for now. Now is the time to visit Apotheosis. I’ve had my fill of waiting sitting on my hands.”

Magnus didn’t protest.

“I want to see Anders safe as well. But it’s not as simple as just walking through one of their portals. Do you have a plan?”

“I can’t plan for someplace I’ve never seen before. We’ll have to improvise.”

“Then we need to book a flight tomorrow. Either that or we have to move through Horizon, and that’s a bit more than I’m ready to deal with right now. And since I don’t know where the local portal is, and going back to Paris seems a bit foolhardy, all things considered, I need to book a flight to Dubai.”

“Dubai it is. And remember, no economy.”

“Right, how could I forget.”