Reaching into his coat pocket, fumbling around for the right concept to draw on to remove what he was after, Kaz finally drew out the little wooden case he'd made for the coin. There wasn't actually any power to the coin, but it had an aura about it—blood, violence, and dedication. It was a dose of bottled essence of war, and Kaz knew following its call would change him.

Shifting his form, he felt new muscles tighten and his skeletal structure shift slightly. He became more solid, more forceful, and more capable. His draconic instincts got a little sharper, his redcap side lent a little more of its fury, and several feline forms he'd used to sharpen his reflexes.

᱿Wow, there's so much going on in this form. You're an artist, Kaz.᱿

᱿I could spend a lifetime refining this shape. I still think I could improve it, particularly if I add wings and use a continual enchantment to hide them.᱿ It did tickle Kaz a little pink to get such a complement. He also stood by what he said, he did plan to improve this form. ᱿And I need to work on a sexy catgirl version, don't I?᱿

᱿Like I said, an artist.᱿ Miaow purred up a storm of excitement and joy.

᱿Well, we're going to meet an artist today. I'm a little worried about what training with her will be like. She's like a redcap dialed up to eleven.᱿ Clutching the coin tight, Kaz reached out with his magic to draw him first to Niflheimr. The cold, as he stepped out into the snow, didn't bother him in the least.

Taking deep breaths of the chill air, Kaz felt at once both comfortable and relaxed—this was his home. Now, though, he focused on his next task—one that would leave him less relaxed. Sending his next plane-shifting spell to the coin, using it as a focus, he stepped through to a new place.

Amber grass, a little above knee high, spread out seemingly forever; a warm sun hung overhead; and through it all was mixed an odd scent that he knew—blood. In the distance Kaz could see a legion of (what movies had taught him were) Roman soldiers, and charging them was a hundred times their number of wild men. Spears, axes, even just rocks—the barbarian horde bored down on the Romans as they drew their shields up, short swords at the ready.

Excitement built in Kaz. His eyes narrowed to slits as he watched the soldiers clash with the barbarians, striking down many, stepping back to make room, then doing it again.

"You could go down there and join them, but you don't have the training for it." Bellona let her words carry the desire she herself felt to join the warriors. "Leave them to die. Come on."

Kaz felt shocked. Staring at Bellona's back he asked, "They're just going to die?"

"No, of course not. They will account for themselves well, leaving just one of the uncivilized beasts to return and tell of the power of Roman warriors." Pausing, Bellona watched as the most skilled warriors she'd ever known dealt death. "But they are outnumbered a hundred to one."

"They come back to life?" Kaz asked as he followed Bellona.

"Maybe. If they think they need another fight, they will reform. Otherwise, they can move on." Reaching out with her will, Bellona drew her temple into being just as her foot reached the stairs leading into it. "Come, you are welcome in my temple—to learn my craft."

As he walked inside, Kaz saw a tray of steel attached to the top of a pillar of white marble. "What's an acceptable offering?"

Surprised at the request, Bellona turned to look at Kaz. "Blood. Your own or someone else's."

Without a knife, except for his athame (and he wouldn't profane that blade with mere bloodletting) which he kept in his coat pocket-dimension, Kaz had nothing else but his own nails—claws. Picking a spot on his forearm, well away from the big blood vessels along the inside of his arm, he made a scratch that cut through even the tough skin he'd build up there.

His blood ran free into the bowl, pooling for just a moment and then seemingly disappearing. It took just a little focus to stop the wound by shapechanging away the damage.

"The blood of a demigod. Potent stuff." The brush of Kaz's essence invigorated Bellona and caused her heart to surge with anticipation. "Show me what Freyja taught you."

Catching the short sword Bellona threw to him, Kaz judged it to be roughly the same weight as what Freyja had let him use. Standing in the position he'd been practicing, he started to perform the routine. When he was around halfway through, Bellona (having picked up a sword and shield) started to thump her sword against her shield in time.

When she started to speed up her beat, Kaz realized what she wanted. He hadn't practiced going faster, but while his reaction times were good, he had trouble keeping the blade where he wanted it.

"Stop. You're doing well, but the kind of momentum shifts you need to learn only come with experience." Bellona had been tasked with training Kaz, but with his inexperience she could either train him for a lifetime or— "Come over here and kneel before me."

At first Kaz was worried what Bellona intended, but when it seemed obvious that she was serious about it, he followed the command and lowered himself to one knee before her.

It was a crude working, but within her own realm Bellona held absolute power. She shattered time and reality into a thousand pieces. In each and every one she said to Kaz, "Okay, stand up and we'll spar." Each reality was slightly different, with every single action changing what was to come after it more and more.

The strain on Bellona was not insignificant. She lacked worshipers in the modern day, and that led to her slowly hemorrhaging power. Kaz, too, struggled against being fractured, though it didn't harm him quite so much because each version of him was partitioned. When the first spar was done, and she stepped back, Bellona collapsed time and space together again.

A thousand hours and a thousand Kazes slammed together. The impact of it drove him to his knees again, but despite how draining it felt—he had trained for a thousand hours in just one. "W-Wow."

"Okay, let's see how you've improved. Work through the routine as fast as you can." It meant Bellona could rest a little before having to stretch herself again.

Kaz's arm felt much more natural now, bringing the short length of steel around in tighter arcs. He let his new experience show as the blade moved more surely at his command. He finished the routine far faster.

"Glad to see that works. Come on, let's go for another round." Bellona stepped up and waited for Kaz to kneel again. Instead, she was surprised to see him holding out a hand to her. "What—?"

"I'm not blind. Take from me what you need." Looking down at her scarred hand, Kaz watched it reach up to his. "I noticed—"

"I am not weak." The words came out far harsher than Bellona wished, but Kaz didn't pull back at her apparent anger. "My power was always built on those that worshiped me."

"And there's few enough left. Would it help if I spent time at your table?" When she started drawing on his magic, Kaz felt a huge strain as she began her working again. Split into a thousand, but only aware of one shard of himself, he drew back from her and brought his sword up.

Again Bellona sparred with Kaz, teaching each of him a different lesson about combat. A thousand lessons, a thousand earned skills. At the end of the hour, after each Kaz had finished learning how to train their new skill, she drew both of them back to a singular being—and both of them dropped to the ground.

What surprised Bellona, however, was that she felt good. Not in over a thousand years had she trained a warrior, and despite the drain on her energy, matching swords with him in her home temple invigorated her far more than it harmed her. "You're learning fast," she said, having just sprawled on her back motionless for several minutes.

Likewise laid-out, Kaz said, "Yeah. It helps that I have the best teacher that ever lived."

Bellona almost choked. Her mind raced to analyze the statement, not as familiar with modern language as she'd like and not completely trusting her godhood power to understand any language. "I have trained students before, but you're the first I've used this technique on."

"I was scared to train with you. I have enough redcap in this form that there is a little bloodlust already. Are you holding that back?"

"Bloodlust will either come or not in your first battle. The first time you're fighting more enemies than you can count—hopeless odds—either bloodlust or despair will fill you." Bellona sat up, then jumped into a crouch and rose to her feet. Reaching down for Kaz's hand, she said, "My money's on bloodlust."

----------------------------------------

Kaz used a spell to return him first to Niflheimr before diverting to his backyard. Once there, the toll of his day caught up with him and he dropped to one knee.

"Resting on the job?" Eisaku crouched down and lifted Kaz's arm over his shoulder. "There are two very nice ladies inside who are waiting for you. Three, if you count Queen—and you probably should."

Tilting his head to look at Eisaku, Kaz tried to rally his strength to stand on his own. "Yeah. Training for"—he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone—"uh, eight thousand hours, in one day, takes it out of you."

Chuckling, Eisaku replied, "One day I will stop being surprised by what you say, Kaz. Not this day, though."

Thinking on that, Kaz attempted to stand a little straighter. "Are you still happy living here?"

Eisaku paused and looked at Kaz. "A garappa isn't truly happy living anywhere they are not allowed to hunt their favorite prey, though you have made this place far more tolerable with your protection and the interesting way you approach life. It's strange that I don't fear being evicted."

"You also get to see me walking around naked as a girl sometimes."

Beaming from ear to ear, Eisaku nodded. "Sometimes. More often it's Miaow."

᱿Miaow?᱿

᱿It doesn't hurt to let him look.᱿

᱿You're a vain cat, Miaow. Tell me you don't like him looking?᱿

᱿I won't lie to you, Kaz.᱿ Miaow just purred, not giving him another word.

Reaching the back door of the house, Kaz turned to the side and looked into Eisaku's eyes. "She likes it; that you look." Opening the door, Kaz ignored the spluttering feline in his head. "Thanks again, we need to do more fishing sometime."

"Maybe some hunting?" Eisaku asked.

"I don't know. There is a fight coming, though, and you're welcome to join that."

"A fight isn't exactly what I'm seeking, but I will consider it." Turning, Eisaku still shook a little from the realization that Kaz was inviting him to literally partake in what he suspected was a fight between gods.

Opening the back door using his key, Kaz walked inside. "I'm home."

"You!" Puff jumped up from the couch in the living room and met Kaz in the kitchen. "Jaybird was giggling for half the day. Things went well?" She slipped her phone into her shoulder bag and didn't stop walking toward Kaz until she surrounded him in fluffy feathers and hugs.

Returning the hug and settling some of his weight on Puff, Kaz kissed her cheek. "Thanks, I really needed a hug. We've been training all day and—She used a lot of magic. Way, way too much magic. I helped where I could, but even just being part of what she did drained me."

"Oh, you poor little thing. Sit on the couch and I'll order us some delivery. Hungry?" Showing off her strength, Puff easily manhandled Kaz into the living room and down on the couch before pulling out her phone.

"Mmm. Yeah, hungry." Relaxing on the couch, Kaz listened to Puff ordering food from a nearby place that delivered. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't speaking in English. When she finished, he asked, "I didn't know you spoke—"

"Vietnamese? Languages come easily to air spirits. Plus, with Jaybird at school most days, I don't have much else to do. Well, there is that little business selling werewolf juice in little bottles, but that doesn't take much work." Holding up her phone, she asked, "Are you up for a picture?"

"If I change, you'll be stuck with it for the rest of the night." Kaz leaned back to lay on his side on the couch, then remembered something Puff had told him about a recent trend. "Okay, let's try this one then."

Puff almost dropped her phone as Kaz shucked out of his coat and then rolled over on his belly and pulled his pants down. "What are you—? Oh!" As she watched a wave of russet fur spread over Kaz and a white heart of fluff cover his rump, she knew what his game was. A wagging fox tail just perfectly completed the look. "This'll have to go on my not safe for work account."

"You got it?" Kaz asked.

"Yup! I can't believe you'd do that." Typing away, Puff put the comment on the pic Guess who this is?

Kaz pulled up his pants and rolled onto his back. He'd cheated. Of course he'd cheated. He was simply a skinny male fox-man who had a particularly curvy rump. "Think you should take one of my chest too?"

"Nah. Besides, I couldn't show—" Looking over the screen of her phone, Puff giggled. "No boobs?"

"I get self-conscious about them. It's weird, but in every other way I'm losing a lot of the nudity taboos I grew up with, but boobs?" Kaz reached his hands up and covered his tiny male nipples with his hands.

᱿Just grow a pair!᱿ Giggling herself now, Miaow couldn't resist ribbing Kaz. ᱿You know Jaybird likes them?᱿

᱿They don't.᱿ Looking up at Puff, Kaz relented and grew a pair of small breasts under his hands. ᱿Uh, do they?᱿ He watched puff snap a picture and smiled. "So, your fans like seeing a cute vixen showing herself off?"

"They're arguing about whether I used some super-advanced filter, had some kind of wicked-good artist, or used an AI image generator. Don't worry, Kaz, I'm sure some of them will be having a much happier evening with your pictures."

"Don't any of them think it's real?" Stretching his arms over his head, Kaz sprawled out on the couch and closed his eyes. "I'd think it was real."

"You are a magical shapechanger who has way too much self-control," Puff said. "If I could shapechange like that, I'd be swapping between all kinds of things constantly, just to see what it feels like." She glanced back at her phone. "They have decided you're not AI since your hands don't look AI."

"I could teach you, you know? I mean, most people can't do more than a few forms, and you couldn't do the whole completely become what you turn into that I have going on, but it would only take a few hours to get the basics." Reaching out with a back paw, Kaz prodded Puff in the thigh.

"Thanks, but that's like having a wish-granting genie tell me I can have anything I want so long as it's cheese." Puff managed, with some effort, to give an impression of screwing up her face at the idea of that—with a beak.

Kaz stared at Puff for a moment, trying to figure out how she managed to show so much disgust—then he caught up to the subject. "Wait, I've seen you eat pizza. You like cheese!"

"I like cheese, but the best things in life aren't made out of cheese."

Sliding off the couch, Kaz kneeled down and sat on his ankles, bowing his head to Puff. "Great birb, teach me the wisdom of the world!"

Giggling in a whistling voice, Puff lifted a wing to her chest. "Always believe in your fluffy feathers, for they believe in you!"

Staring up at Puff with a rapturous expression on his face, Kaz suddenly sprouted feathers all over his body with a twitch of his magic. "I believe in my feathers!"

᱿You two are both insane and I love you so much.᱿ Even Miaow was unable to stop from laughing at the antics.

Slumping back down on his back, Kaz realized for the first time how Puff felt with all her feathers. He was mostly naked, with only a pair of pants on for modesty, but even with the female chest he'd given himself there was nothing untoward showing. "Aaaaand that's probably the last of my magic for a while. Kaz go sleepy now."

"Dinner and Jaybird are both on their way." Smirking as she watched Kaz sit up, Puff couldn't help but admire the way his feathers sat. "Uh, can you keep the feathers for later?"

Miaow made a very unfeline snerrk noise in Kaz's head.

It took Kaz a moment to catch up, but when he did he let out a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll keep the sexy feathers on for later when Miaow snuggles you."

"Snuggles!" Puff grinned wide as she could and ruffled up all her feathers.

"I should have taken my pants off before growing feathers." Kaz didn't itch, exactly, but he did feel a little uncomfortable with his feathers bunched up under his jeans.

"Well, you need to keep them on for five minutes, because I just got a notification to say the food's on its way, and you're the closest of us to passing for human." Puff turned her phone around to show Kaz the delivery map showing their food approaching.

"But I can't, I'm—Oh, right, people will just assume I'm wearing a fursuit. No opening mouth, got it." Standing up, Kaz walked to the front door and examined himself in the mirror just beside it. White feathers, it turned out, were like a stealth suit for naughty bits. When the doorbell rang, he put as good a smile on his vulpine face as he could and opened the door to the delivery person.

Puff cleared her throat. "Sorry! Kaz can't talk with that mask on. Just give him the stuff please!"

Doing his best to not blink or move his eyes, Kaz nodded and held out a hand. He took the bags from the delivery girl and realized he didn't have any cash to tip with. Holding up a finger, he gestured back inside, turned, and raced to where he'd dropped his coat.

Puff blinked at Kaz as he grabbed his wallet out of his coat and then pulled a few gold coins out of that. "What are—You're tipping her with gold?"

"It's all I have at the moment. Do you have cash?" Kaz looked as Puff shook her head. Turning, he ran back to the door and put two gold coins in the girl's hand.

"Look, I don't really know what you're into here, but these chocolate…" Attempting to peel open one of the coins with her thumb nail, the delivery driver quickly found just a little indent into the yellow metal rather than the thin tinfoil coating. "What is this—?"

"Don't spend it all at once," Kaz said, closing the door fast enough to hide his mouth as he did so.

Puff stared at Kaz while he stared back at her, then they both started to giggle. When Jaybird got home, they were halfway through their dinner and still giggling from time to time.

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A week turned into a month. Kaz spent three days a week in various planes, training with Fafnir for magic, Freyja for longsword training, and Bellona for nearly every other weapon. It was grueling, but Kaz fell into a routine.

By the end of each week he'd been exhausted. Fafnir's magic lessons were more about teaching Kaz how to work with the magic of his environment, twisting it to his needs. That wasn't the problem. When he and Bellona trained, though, it left him wrung out.

And this week, his fifth week of intense training, had him meeting with Hel herself to learn more of his death magic. He stepped through his magic into Niflheimr and felt the cold seep into him—strengthen him.

Slipping his jacket off, Kaz let himself shift into his giant wolf form and shook out his coat in joy. This was the world where he'd been reborn twice—it was more his home than anywhere he'd ever lived. Picking up his jacket with his teeth and tossing it on his back, Kaz started loping toward where he knew Hel would be waiting.

He loped away from where he'd entered Niflheimr. A light snow was falling and the chill of the realm continued to strengthen him and make him feel more vital and alive. When he reached Hel's cave, however, he'd found it empty.

Something, however, felt enticing. Tempting. He reached around himself for the mana present and immediately noticed what he'd felt—there was a lock. A lock and trigger both. Sniffing and sensing the magic of the lock, he felt the particular scent of death about it.

"Locks need keys. Locks made with death magic need death magic keys." With that thought in mind, Kaz reached out to the lock with the power of his right hand and felt a kinship with it. It was as if it was his magic, but only very slightly different. The difference, he realized, was because Hel had made it. "It's not my magic—my magic is Hel's magic."

Pressing some of his mana into the lock, Kaz felt himself ripped from Niflheimr and plunged into another realm. The cold of the new place was absolute and ate into Kaz, recognized him, and supported him. Blind for a moment, he waited for his vision to clear before seeing a huge pair of doors to a truly massive building before him.

Flowing upright into the form of a man, Kaz slipped his cloak back on and banged his fist on the door.

The door opened, slowly, and inside hundreds, tens of thousands, or even millions of men, women, and children were eating. There was so much food that it hit Kaz like a wall of scent. Plates were piled high and everyone was laughing and talking—though they stopped when he stepped inside.

"Welcome to Eljudnir, Kazuma. Come, sit at the head table with me." Hel was seated on a throne at the head of the hall. She had a smirk planted on her face upon seeing the surprise on Kaz's face. "Well, come on. Don't keep me waiting in my own hall."

Pausing for just a moment more, Kaz stepped forward, let himself start to fall, shrugged out of his coat, and became a huge warg again. Snapping his fangs into his coat to carry it, he padded up the center of the huge hall, with tables on each side of him flowing past, before jumping over the head table and landing beside Hel—on the opposite side of her from Garmr.

When Kaz leaned sideways against the throne, Hel reached her hand out instinctively to his pelt, giving his neck a good rub. "You don't have to take this form here, Kazuma. You have earned your right to stand proud."

Hearing his full name was still a little weird. Kaz was so used to his nickname that it had almost become how he thought of himself. "This is as much me as my human shape. I could always become a griffon again?" He turned his head to look up at Hel.

The merriment in Kaz's eyes made Hel laugh. "Very well, but today we start your training in death. Everyone here, barring you, Garmr, and myself, are dead." Gesturing to the multitudes eating at the tables, Hel let out a sigh. "Valhalla and Folkvangr take the heroes, split between them, but for every hero there are a thousand souls who are not. Those who die alone in the dark, in their beds, in childbirth, from infection, or hundreds of other reasons—they all wind up here." Looking back down at Kaz, Hel smiled. "They are sent here because they have nowhere else to go and they need somewhere.

"I don't hold it against Freyja. She took up her task long before I came to reside here. It—I find myself reaching for one of your words, Kazuma. It sucks that no one was only sent here to care for these people until my time."

Looking again, Kaz was struck once more by how many children there were. "And this division is still happening?" That Hel nodded to him made something sharp twist inside him. "This needs to be stopped."

"There's only one way it can be stopped. Odin has made his choice—he takes the finest heroes of the battlefield. He splits them, reluctantly, with Freyja, because he's gambling on those few best-of-the-best being better than a thousand times as many who didn't have the freedom to live their whole lives with a weapon in hand and the leisure to learn how to master it."

That stopped Kaz. He fit that bill. He had been lucky to be born in modern times, with a father who could care for him, and he knew it. "Teach me how to fix this, please?"

"You said you can find my half brother? Mother is sure that will be the trigger. Once he returns, three cocks will crow, each in the different realms—and that's how we will all know it is beginning. It ends"—Hel took a deep breath—"when the killing of gods and jotun is complete and everyone left alive steps back and catches their collective breaths."

Standing up from her throne, Hel cast back the robe she was wearing to reveal the rough leathers she always adorned herself with. "Baldr!"

A gasp ran across the hall, chased around by thousands of voices all expressing shock at hearing the name.

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"Baldr! I call you thrice as lady of this hall. Baldr!" As Hel's voice rose to the third sounding of his name, the doors of the hall rattled and flew open. The man standing in the doorway stood seven feet tall and had shoulders as wide as two men. "Baldr, we have a guest."

Glaring into the room at the only other god that occupied it, Baldr turned his eyesight slightly aside to the huge wolf sitting beside her. Under his focus, the wolf seemed to twist and shift—but not physically. "He's worse than Loki." It made him smile, though, to think that Loki could be second best at such a thing he epitomized. "Why did you call me, Hel?"

"Kazuma, take on your combat form." Hel kept her eyes on Baldr, watching the god's attention as Kaz shifted upright and pulled his cloak on. "I want you to judge his training, Baldr. Freyja and an outsider have both been training him—I want to know the worth of their training when pitted against the might of a god born for battle."

Blowing a huff of air out, Baldr nodded his head. "This goes beyond our deal, Hel, but I welcome the chance to test my arm. Come, boy, fight me and test your mettle." Drawing his broadsword, he advanced to the center of the hall.

Reaching into his cloak, Kaz drew out a similar sword to the one Baldr carried, then pulled out a pair of shorts and pulled them on. Casting his cloak off, he jumped over Hel's table again and advanced to the middle of the room—his heart thudding in his chest.

"Do you know why I'm doing this?" Baldr asked Kaz as he neared him.

"No." Kaz moved into a ready stance, one that Freyja favored. When Baldr first moved, Kaz was barely able to get his sword up in time to defend. Not only was Baldr fast, he hit hard.

Stepping back after the first blow, Baldr shrugged his shoulders. "I was a joke. Even my own father found sport in belittling me." He swung again, but this time Kaz was much quicker on the uptake and not only deflected his blade, but swung his own. Baldr caught Kaz's blade on his forearm—and the metal weapon deflected off like he had a shield. "My mother bade every item in the world not to harm me—and they all listened except one. My brother started their game."

Kaz found confidence as he parried and deflected a quick 1-2 swing from Baldr, returning with his own that the god actually parried back. "Game?"

"Since nothing could hurt me, they could throw javelins and spears at me. Thor took up throwing axes." Shifting his stance, Baldr rushed in and slammed his blade into Kaz's so hard he heard the weapon's note sour. "Hold! Your weapon's broken."

Ready to swing back, Kaz froze at the words. He looked at the blade and could see plainly a small fold of cracks along it. Reaching his left hand out, he cradled the blade and spoke to it with magic. "Reform."

Seeing the cracks fade, Baldr laughed. "Handy trick, but you'll need a better blade than that to stand against a god. Come back in a week and I'll give you a better blade." Sheathing his sword, Baldr looked past Kaz at Hel. "He's passable. He didn't break and run at the first good hit." With that he turned and started walking from the hall, not slowing in the slightest when he kicked the doors open again and left.

Kaz stared after him for a moment before turning back to look at Hel.

"Come. I will spend some time teaching you the ways of death magic." Stepping onto and walking over her own table, Hel looked along the rows of tables and smiled at the occupants. "Everyone, be at ease."

"Great lady! When do we fight?"

"When do we put things right?"

The shouts grew too numerous for Kaz to follow, but Hel seemed to scan around and make eye contact with each member of the crowd.

"Not for some days still. When all is ready, the war will start." Hel felt a new hope rise within her. With Freyja's army at their side and a full pack of wolves ready to slaughter their way through Asgard, there was light at the end of the darkest days of Ragnarok. "Let's move outside the hall where the death is strongest."

Following Hel, Kaz felt new excitement for the cause he'd taken up.

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"Wait, I need a break." Looking at the small pack of creatures that fawned about his legs, Kaz reached his hand down and stroked at their moldy coats and rotten flesh. Voles, a fox, and a tiny hawk were his successes. They each burned with a dark energy that had flowed down his arm and breathed the opposite of life into them.

"It is a start, but I don't think this is where your talents lie in death magic." Hel didn't want to destroy the little things Kaz had imbued with his power. "You need to withdraw your magic from them, Kazuma."

"Yeah." Reaching out to give each one last pat, he drew the cold and hard magic back from them and into himself again. The little corpses fell to the ground as if their strings had been cut. "What else is there?"

"Death, like life, can do all the things you would expect of it—and many things you wouldn't. Animating corpses to do your will is one of the very typical things death magic can do, as is stopping a living creature, or even forcing flesh to decay and die. Death can also be used to slow the contagion in a body. That is what I believe I will teach you next."

It was weird for Kaz, until he started to understand what Hel was really teaching him. Death, in the body, was a constant. It was happening all the time. Very few parts of the body weren't constantly dying and regrowing.

What she showed him how to do was identify and target specific things and how to use his death magic to eliminate them. Even as he sat there, numerous diseases, fungi, and unassuming parasites existed in his body. Not a lot, given how often and what he transformed into, but she even explained that the transformation brought those things into being in his body because, like everything in him, he needed them to keep living.

But eliminating one of them wasn't a death sentence, and it was good practice for him to very precisely eliminate threats that targeted a body and were dangerous.

"What about poisons? Can't death magic cause them to denature?" Kaz asked, when Hel seemed satisfied with his ability to target living (and near-living) things.

"No. The one thing death magic is adept at is breaking the complex reactions that living things require. Even a virus requires a host cell to be able to recognize it." Hel understood how biology worked purely by observation. She could feel the mechanics of life and death directly and it allowed her to observe the two happening in minute and macro detail. "Our other magic, however, can harden the body against such or even allow it to outright ignore it."

And so Kaz was led into using his other goddess-given power. It was strange for him, since so far he'd just used his magic to accomplish normal mage things or normal dragon things, but now he was specifically directing these two elements to work as they were meant to. It was a shock to see what happened when he cut himself with his sword—intentionally not using any resistant form—cleaned the wound with death magic, then made his own cells rapidly heal over and restore the flesh.

Kaz, after performing the same cut-clean-heal several times, finally got a nod of approval from Hel. "I hope I never need to use this for myself, but being able to heal others with these techniques would be—"

"You're missing an obvious application that you can use in combat." Hel reached out for his sword and cut his arm again, then she exercised her healing magic and watched his eyes as she made the wound infected with yeast. The bloom was so thick that it started to eat into the healthy flesh around the cut—before she killed it all off and healed him.

"That was fascinating and also painful." Tilting his head to the side, Kaz thought about that. "Bellona has been teaching me the advantages of knowing how to cause pain in combat—that it can be used to put a foe off-balance or guide them into some actions. This could be usable in a similar way."

Nodding, Hel spared a tight smile that she didn't feel—not completely. Kaz had been so young and pure, and her repeated contact with gods had led him to a hardness and mindset she would have wished he could avoid. "She is teaching you well in the ways of combat. Don't shy from using dirty tricks to win when your life and others' are on the line."

"And there's always the chance that it can end a fight. Pain I can relieve quickly is preferable to maiming or killing—if I can put an end to things." The look of surprise and genuine happiness on Hel's face confused Kaz for a moment.

"I think that is a very good idea, too. It pleases me that you haven't lost your compassion." Reaching her arms out, Hel pulled Kaz toward her. He was stiff at first, but relaxed in her arms. "I wish you didn't need to learn these things, but—"

"…but I need to make a difference in Ragnarok. I need to be able to defend myself against the likes of Aphrodite again. I need to be able to stand up to a god." It was insane. Kaz couldn't help but feel a mad panic at the thought of having to face a god alone, but the truth was—in Ragnarok at least—he wouldn't exactly be alone. "I need to be able to make a threat of myself, at least."

"Using my magics to support my brothers, nephews, mothers, or father would be enough to account for that. If Bellona and Freyja can teach you to fight the likes of Baldr, then I would favor you to be a thorn in the side of any god. Know, however, that some foes you will never beat with strength of arms. Thor, the brute, would barely raise a sweat in a fight with you. Pick your ally, pick your fight, and pick your enemies well, Kazuma."

Breaking, slowly, from the hug, Kaz nodded and rolled his shoulders. "Thank you for teaching me this and—and for caring. I know I tried to make our relationship something else when we first met, but now I think of you as the mother I never knew."

"Kazuma," Hel said, and met his eyes, "you have done nothing but make me proud of you. Even as you prepare for war, hold onto your newfound love and keep them safe."

"I will." Shrugging out of his coat and shorts, Kaz put the latter in the former and shifted himself once more to his draconic form. Just being in the presence of Hel while he could feel the mana around him so intently made sparks dance in his awareness. Leaning back, he let loose with an inarticulate roar that carried his desire into the world around him—and beyond. "Thank you. I'll seek out Artemis tomorrow."

It would, Kaz knew, probably result in him meeting Aphrodite again. He didn't care. He would use his blade and his magic, cut and burn her until she was dead or gone. Opening a path from the edge of Eljudnir they were in, Kaz reappeared in his back garden.

Shaking himself, he turned to look at the creature watching him, then smirked and shifted his form to one similar to, but not actually Miaow's. Standing, naked, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Got a spare fishing pole?"

Eisaku had a sudden coughing fit and started laughing. He knew, without a doubt, that Kaz would not so much as look at him, but giving him something to look at was appreciated—and funny. "For you? Always. Come, sit, don't worry about putting anything on."

Pulling his shorts from his jacket pocket again, Kaz pulled them on and over his hips, then slung the long coat around his shoulders so it only partly gave him some modesty. It was a struggle not to pull it closed, but he was trying to be nice to Eisaku, after all. He took the pole and reached to the bait bucket sitting beside Eisaku, pulling out a big leech and fitting it to the hook. "Anything biting?"

"You never know when something tasty might show up." Spending more time looking at Kaz than his rod, Eisaku wasn't above innuendo. "You smell dangerous tonight. Training went we—" Kaz reached out to Eisaku with his magic and it was like a white-hot knife of energy struck him. It hurt and felt amazing. "What is this?"

"Life. Pure life. Strength and fitness of form. It's not immortality, but it's good, eh?"

Eisaku had to nod to that. He was an old Garappa, centuries had passed during which he had stuck to fishing rather than his old pastime of hunting for flesh, but now he felt like a young yokai again. "It's good. Why are you doing this for me?"

"Loyalty rewarded? Taking a chance on a young nobody?" Kaz shrugged and withdrew his power. There hadn't been anything in Eisaku that'd been out of place, but the magic he carried had simply revitalized what was there. "You haven't fed on humans. You have guarded my home and my loved ones. You fed Queen fish. I even feel an echo of your energy within me—you put your mark on that coin."

"Everyone did. You needed power, Hel said. It wouldn't take much, not more than a sliver from all of us. I hope you use it better than I ever did." Eisaku jumped as he felt a bite on his line. Jerking on the rod to set the hook, he pulled the fish closer and closer, then out of the water.

"Will, Eisaku, will. It will only fuel your body, but I promise to never be selfish with the magic I carry. If you wish it, in another few hundred years, ask for another top-up." Reaching over, Kaz grabbed the fish under its sharp fins and held it down so Eisaku could draw his knife and take its head off.

The head came off without a problem, and to celebrate the kill Eisaku lifted his trophy up and opened his mouth wide. Crunching away on the fish head, he let out a whistle of delight he hadn't made in decades. He felt young, and worse, Kaz sitting there giving him a show was making other things apparent.

Having fished with Eisaku enough, Kaz reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out one of the many knives that Bellona had been training him with. It was a thin work blade, but it made quick work of the fish's stomach.

Grabbing up a double handful of the fish's entrails, Eisaku shook in barely suppressed excitement before holding out one handful to Kaz.

Kaz looked at the guts of the fish, still warm from its body, and discarded the part of him that hadn't hunted and feasted as a wolf and as a dragon. He couldn't stretch his mouth open huge like Eisaku, but he opened his mouth as wide as he could and slurped down the disgusting (to a human palate) entrails.

"You surprise me every time we meet, Kazuma. Don't look at me like that, we all know your name—Hel used it to pull your soul into the new body." Licking his lips, Eisaku gulped down his own mouthful of entrails and let out a stinking burp. "You should go inside. I'll keep watch out here."

Standing up, Kaz offered the fish to Eisaku. "This is yours."

"I'll catch another. Give it to Miaow to enjoy." Waving a hand dismissively at Kaz, Eisaku took one more longing look at the master he served and closed his eyes to savor and remember the vision before him.

Leaving Eisaku to his fishing, Kaz walked to the back door with the fish, changing his form yet again to his resistant and strong masculine one. Stepping inside, he accidentally burped—and got the smell of the fish bits in his stomach full in the face. "Ugh. Oh hell no. That's…"

A small bundle of wings, claws, and beak veered through the house and right toward Kaz. Diving onto his shoulder, Princess rubbed herself against his neck and was already purring when she said, "You smell good. Is that for me?"

"You'll have to ask Miaow when she wakes up." Kaz reached his free hand up and started petting Princess, who took her chance to lick his fingers.

"Miaow is such a wonderful cat." Finishing up with Kaz's fingers, Princess tried to angle down his arm enough to bite at the tail of the fish with her beak but almost slipped and had to haul herself back up. "Can I try a piece now?"

"You can wait until later." Kaz carried the fish to the sink and turned on the tap to start a little water flowing. "Or you could always ask Eisaku if he has a spare one."

"He won't let me have any. He said, 'Not until you're older.'" Puffing out a snort, Princess jumped down from Kaz's shoulders to the bench. "Are you sure I can't have a bit? You have to cut the tail off anyway, and there's always a little meat in there." She returned to his shoulder when he didn't immediately put it down for her to devour.

"You're not going to stop until you get to eat some of this, are you, Princess?" Kaz sliced the tail off with a knife, trimmed the fin off the little bit of flesh and bone there, and held it up for Princess.

Wiggling her rump in excitement, Princess took a moment to rub her whole body against Kaz's head and then screeched at the fish, grabbed it in her beak, and took off.

Surrendering to the inevitability that his actions might well have caused a fight, Kaz set about fileting the fish, putting the fresh filets in a container and into the fridge. He set the remaining bones into a little water, added salt and pepper, and then put it on the stove on low heat.

The smell, apparently, finally woke Miaow. It was like Kaz's whole head was filled with the scent of fresh fish, and it made her both hungry and curious. ᱿What are you doing?᱿

᱿Good morning, sleepy head. I was just putting away a fish Eisaku caught. There's some fish stock simmering on the stove and—Today was pretty intense. Hel taught me how to use both my magics to heal and harm, and then she arranged for me to spar with another god.᱿ Kaz leaned against the counter and took a deep breath of the simmering fish bones.

᱿If Puff wasn't the most amazing person in all existence, I'd totally marry that yokai.᱿ Miaow let out a deep purr in Kaz's head. ᱿That was enough to get you hyped up?᱿

᱿She wants me to go and see Artemis so we can try to find Vali.᱿

The statement jerked Miaow from her fish-daze and forced her to pay full attention. ᱿So, starting Ragnarok?᱿

᱿Starting it and restoring a wolf to his rightful place.᱿ Kaz huffed out a breath and looked into the now-simmering water. ᱿I'll talk to Artemis first, but I figure we'll need something that belonged to Vali.᱿

᱿She's not a bloodhound, Kaz. You yourself might carry enough of him, given your adopted heritage.᱿ Miaow let out a sigh that whispered through Kaz's mind. ᱿So this might be the last night of peace for a while.᱿

᱿Sorry, but yeah. Hey, all the more reason to enjoy fish, huh?᱿ Kaz opened the fridge to show Miaow the two big filets. ᱿Hope that will be enough, given all the extra hungry mouths.᱿

᱿Speaking of, where's Princess? She's normally all over the place when there is raw fish around.᱿

᱿I gave her the tail to chew on. She was gone just before you woke up.᱿

Miaow yawned and stretched again, pressing outward against Kaz's thoughts and trying to reassure him that she would be with him every step of the way. ᱿When are Puff and Jaybird coming home?᱿

"Oh, right, my phone." Kaz fumbled to get his phone out of his jacket pocket and check it. The moment it was removed from the pocket dimension it started beeping with messages. When he checked, most of them were Puff. First that she'd organized a party for them all, then the party moved, then it was called off, then it was back on again, and finally that it was just going to be them plus a few other friends—but at home. He checked the time. "We're apparently going to have a party here in about half an hour. Puff and Jaybird are out getting drinks and food."

᱿Oooh. Sounds like fun. So, we're going to see Artemis tomorrow?᱿

"Yeah. I'll be trying to locate her. If we run into Aphrodite, I won't hold back." The hardness in Kaz's voice was a gift from Bellona. He'd spent thousands of hours training under her, listening to her words spoken with both her voice and her blade—and he now had to believe that he could kill.

Miaow had raised her hackles a little. Her purr had stopped and she was in a very serious feline mood. ᱿Good. She tried to kill you, me, and everything we've ever been. She doesn't deserve a second chance at that.᱿

"I'm sorry I took so long to come around to that. I just—"

᱿You wouldn't be you, Kaz, if you'd been able to kill her right from the start. Now you know what it feels like to be invaded and attacked like that, don't let anyone ever do it again. It is a lesson you can learn from.᱿ Miaow was back to a soft purr, trying to reassure herself as much as Kaz.

Standing up, Kaz walked over to put on some music and think about his emotions. "I really wish I could hug you about now. You've been with me through all this and I don't think I would have made it this far with anyone less."

᱿You keep saying that. I agree, though. The first thing I'm doing when we get me a body is to hug you a bunch.᱿

Walking through to his bedroom, Kaz picked out some comfortable clothes to wear for the party and, just as he was finished getting changed, he heard the front door open and close.

Feeling calm and collected, Kaz walked into the living room to see Puff and Jaybird walking in with Bacchus and his ever-present female companion. Kaz shared a little smile with her as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Hey there."

Bacchus could only smile at the way Kaz seemed to relax into the hug. "She still misses you, man, but I hear you've been doing work lately." When Kaz's eyes opened and lifted from his priestess' shoulder, Bacchus could see a new steely strength in them. "Whoa."

"I've been training, yeah. Weapons and magic. I'm going to be headed back to your home realm tomorrow." Kaz gave the woman one more squeeze and started to let go. He noticed Jaybird looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And if you run into Aphrodite again?" Bacchus asked, inviting his priestess to sit with him on the couch.

"I'll kill her." Kaz let the words sink into a void in the conversation they made themselves. It was a heavy thing to say, but he found he meant the words with every fiber of his being. "I am not going to let her scare me away from meeting up with Artemis again."

Holding his hand out to Jaybird—inviting—Kaz pulled them into a warmer and more cozy hug than that he'd shared with the priestess.

Just being close to Kaz aroused Jaybird in ways that they'd never felt before. His physical hunger and love rolled through them like a wave. Even at a distance they would have felt his current level of emotion had he felt it for the priestess. "It all starts tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Kaz paused to kiss Jaybird—first on the lips, then on the jaw. "I'll find Artemis and ask if she will help me find—find someone important."

"You're going to hunt for someone you need to find? I don't know if that's brilliant or terrifying, Kaz." Jaybird kissed him again and, for a moment, contemplated dragging him away from the party-about-to-happen for a private "party". Smirking, they nuzzled Kaz's neck a little. "Miaow, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to want a little time with Kaz tonight—I promise Puff and you will get your turn."

Miaow hoped her purr set the right mood. ᱿Fine by me. It's not like our body will be tired in the morning. Messy, maybe, but not tired.᱿

"Ugh. Miaow is being lewd, but she's fine with that. I am too." Slowly, reluctantly, Kaz started to let go of Jaybird.

"Yeah, I can feel that. It's why I asked." Giving his rump a squeeze as they let go, Jaybird was already walking to the door when the bell rang. Opening it revealed a very large woman. "Hey, Robin, come on in."

There were few enough doors that would open for Robin, and when Jaybird had arrived at her bar to invite her to a party for Kaz, she'd been so surprised she'd agreed. "Thanks. Any normals coming?"

"Nope. Closest to a normal person here would be the griffons, and I think Princess isn't all that normal since she started shapechanging into a dragon at every opportunity." Jaybird had sensed an awkwardness in Robin and had been teasing at the idea of it since she'd made a point to invite her. "Would you like a drink?"

Managing not to look at Kaz was an effort, but Robin turned her full attention to Jaybird at the question. "No one has offered to serve me a drink in a long time. I'll take a double of the darkest stuff you got."

Pouring Robin a glass with some dark rum in it, Jaybird passed the drink over and got a hint—not even from touching her—of what Robin was interested in. "Kaz." The name popped out without them realizing they were going to say it.

Robin froze when she realized what Jaybird was. "Empath, right?" At their nod, Robin sighed. "I'm crushing pretty bad, but don't worry, I am old enough to be able to resist that hunger." Taking the drink, Robin took a sip at it and sighed. "Good stuff. Thanks."

In one way it was a relief—Jaybird was in love with Kaz and certainly wanted things to stay that way (and mutual). In another they were utterly hating that they didn't immediately go talk to Kaz about what they could do, as a couple, to give Robin some relief. "Unrequited love sucks. You remember when Kaz had his emotions removed?"

Biting her lower lip, Robin nodded. "I getcha. But he's back now, right? All his emotions sorted?"

"And then some, but while he has what you'd call love, it's still a little stunted. He can feel it for me, but he used to have feelings—random little things—when he'd see a beautiful woman. He doesn't have any of that now."

"See, I'd expect that'd make you happy, but you don't sound like it."

"He has the emotions we've managed to evoke in him, but nothing else. It's like other women just don't exist to him." Jaybird again wished they had the strength to offer Kaz and Robin some time together.

"Why not take him window-shopping?"

"Huh?"

Robin smirked. "You know what type he had before this problem, right?"

"Yeah. He likes dark hair, shorter than him, and if he has a preference on skin color, I've never sensed it."

"Well, why not go around town? Maybe take him to a nightclub. Ask him what he thinks of different girls."

Jaybird was intrigued with the idea. "That could work. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that a bartender has good relationship advice."

"Yeah, that's how it's meant to go. All I got is a bar, some booze, and a temper." Drinking more of the rum, Robin looked around the house and spotted Bacchus and hissed a little. "A friend? He smells like old god."

"That's Bacchus. He attacked Aphrodite to drag Kaz out of where she had him—lost a priest of his in the process. If you see Kaz hugging the woman with him, it's nothing serious. She imprinted on him a little after what happened. Turns out she's super lonely without the other priest and just wants someone to be with."

"Huh. Well, he's your boyfriend. I guess being an empath helps, right?"

Jaybird nodded. "Yeah, but it still seems a little odd to see him cuddle and hug someone else. Not like it happens every day, though. I just treat her as a distant cousin of his. Family, but not that tight."

"Anyone else coming?" It was as subtle as a brick through a window, but Robin didn't do subtle.

"Oh, yeah. One of the people who got Kaz and me through orientation is coming, and a few others Kaz knows from school. There also might be a dragon and some huge wolves." Jaybird tapped at their jaw. "Though, only one will probably show. They have this thing they do each day."

"Hati and Skoll?" Reaching up to lift her cap and brush her hair back, Robin shook her head. "And I can take a few guesses at the dragon in question. How do you handle all this so calmly?"

"I have living relatives in both fey courts. That gives me perspective. It is helpful that three different goddesses have given our home marks of protection. Bacchus wouldn't have gotten in the door if I hadn't invited him." That's when Jaybird thought about how Bacchus had freed Kaz. "Uh, maybe. He does seem pretty tricky sometimes."

"Just remember that it's not your power and the source of it is never as close as you need it to be."

"I can hold my own here, at least against less divine powers. I'm a bit worried about what's coming. Ragnarok seems like a children's story until you start meeting some of the players in it." Sitting down, Jaybird could feel the light warmth of self-assurance and confidence, mixed together, radiating from Robin.

Sitting down too, Robin was surprised that the couch didn't groan under her weight—but then she remembered that Kaz probably sat here enough that he would have reinforced it. "The other side are probably watching him, you know?"

"Probably, though he's hoping to throw them off his trail tomorrow. Big things and all that. I'm trying to keep up, you know?"

"Keep up with him?"

"I've been studying and working on my own kind of magic. My boyfriend might be phenomenal with physical strength and his dragon magic, but I like to think I could be useful in a figh—" Jaybird was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Excuse me a moment."

Opening the door revealed a young man with red hair that looked like it was caught in a breeze that didn't exist. "Sev!"

"Please, Sevastian now. I'm finally free of that stupid anonymity curse." As he walked in, Sevastian could appreciate the ward that'd held him from doing more than knocking. "That's some serious protection you have there. Your own work?"

"Mostly. I've been working with your designs and incorporating a bit more into them. Remember how you designed those causal nodes that could react to any attempt to breach by working in the past? Imagine being made to remember something you had to do—and having a fully-fledged memory to back it up."

"Sounds like the kind of thing it would take a talented telempathic witch to pull off. Do you happen to know one?"

"Nope! I just took a guess." Jaybird led him inside and over to Kaz. "Kaz, you remember Sev, right?"

"Uh…" Kaz looked away from Queen, whom he'd been providing with ample petting. "Wait, first day of college, right? Man, that seems so long ago."

Watching Kaz rise, Sevastian thrust out his hand. "Sure was. I go by my full name now, Sevastian. I've heard your full name is free to use now?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess I got used to being called Kaz. It's a lot easier for some than Kazuma." He shook Sevastian's hand and looked around. "Party's really happening. Is this everyone?"

"Uh, one of your uncles will be here soon, and I invited Fafnir, but I don't know if he can make it." Walking up to Kaz's side, Jaybird kissed his cheek. The sense of her wards being tested made her stiffen, though. "Backyard."

Opening the door to the back yard, Kaz saw Skoll standing there, looking around in confusion. "Skoll!"

Raising his head, Skoll looked at Kaz and the strange feeling he'd forgotten to do something faded. "Kaz!" Padding over to the back door of the house, he lowered his head a little so he and Kaz could bump foreheads. "It's good to see you, brother."

"Hati's out hunting?" Kaz asked, stepping aside and inviting Skoll in.

"Of course. Even if someone else causes Ragnarok, it's still important to keep up the chase." Adjusting his motion slightly, Skoll brushed past Jaybird and looked them in the eye. "Thank you for the invitation."

Leaning against Skoll a little more, Jaybird inhaled deeply as Kaz had told them to do. He smelled a lot like they'd always figured he would, but Kaz had said that this was an important way of saying hello. "You're welcome."

"It's not normal humans or—or your other kind to greet like that. Thank you again. Oh, here comes the dragon."

It was just enough warning for Jaybird to disable their ward. When Fafnir pulled his way into the human world, he did so without his usual flair—mostly because he wore the shape of a man. Wearing a simple robe that covered the bits he knew humans got far too excited about, he approached Jaybird and lowered to one knee. "I humbly accept your invitation and offer thanks for the right to your hearth."

Taking the small bag of what she could only guess were gold coins, Jaybird reached her hand down to take Fafnir's and help him stand. "Welcome." It was formal, but Jaybird knew some formal rites from the stranger part of their family tree. "You are a guest in our home."

Close enough to his customs, Fafnir stood up and walked inside. He could feel Jaybird's ward reinstate itself behind him and felt a measure more comfort that he had been welcomed. It had been some time since any would have invited him to share their home. "You know some of the old ways?"

"My family comes from a different lineage, but one that still holds the duties of a host to their guests as paramount. This isn't a big party, just a small get-together of people who are friends of either Kaz or myself." Jaybird gestured into the living room. "Help yourself to our supply of drinks, I think I have things to cover most of us here."

Reaching out with his senses, Fafnir found what he was looking for in a case of beer that was chilling in a cooler of ice. Though, once he had a can liberated from the ice, he tried to figure out how he was supposed to drink it.

"Could you get me one of those too?" Bacchus asked Fafnir.

Seeing his out, Fafnir pulled a second can out and walked over to the couch. "You saved Spakr from the goddess' poison."

Cracking his can open, Bacchus could only think of one such person and one such goddess. "Yeah. I couldn't leave him to her. She's a—a real bitch." He took a long pull from his can and passed it to his priestess. "You call him Spakr?"

"It is a suitable name—Wisdom, in English. When I first found him he was a wolf, I have watched him grow into a true dragon." Seeing how to open the can, Fafnir followed Bacchus' example and tried some of the beer. It proved to be refreshing. "Though he still struggles with ruthlessness, he is learning even that."

"Yeah, I get you. Shame that the world does this to the best people." Bacchus turned and kissed the woman beside him.

Rubbing his chin, a custom Fafnir'd had before becoming a dragon, he took another drink and spoke his mind. "I prefer to take the stance that it is because the world does this that the best people become truly great."

Belching, then tilting his head to the side in thought, Bacchus nodded. "Yeah. You know what, yeah, I am onboard with that. To Steven," he said, raising his can (and then producing another out of thin air for his priestess). "He was a fantastic priest and gave his life for the best of causes."

Fafnir drank when Bacchus was done. He hadn't known the man in question apart from what Kaz had said—that he'd paid with his life to free Kaz.

Settling back after drinking his whole can, Bacchus burped and surrendered part of himself to the drink. "With things heating up in your neighborhood, do you have any plans?"

"I had no plans for Ragnarok. It was going to be a time of turbulence that I wanted nothing to do with."

Bacchus reached down between the couch cushions and pulled out another beer. With a smile he said, "I recognized that tense, my dude."

"I would have lied, but your ilk are known for smelling such." It was Fafnir's best attempt at changing the topic, but he could see it not working in the raised eyebrow Bacchus gave him. "Let me say, then, that none will hunt Niflheimr or seek out Hel with plans of malice. I have consulted Nidhoggr on this, and the mighty serpent agreed to assist in this matter."

"You'd trust me with such information?" Bacchus asked.

"No. Spakr trusts you." It was with great delight that Fafnir showed off that even in the mostly-human shape he wore, he still had teeth that would frighten a god. "Three are the mighty dragons of our realm. Myself, Nidhoggr, and Jormungandr. Prophecies speak only of Jormungandr's role—so Nidhoggr and myself are free to act as we wish."

"And you wish to protect Hel and her kin from any reprisals?"

"I do. She has brought me the single most interesting person I have met since Loki blessed me with this curse."

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.