᱿Are you ready, Miaow?᱿ Though he was standing alone in a frigid snowstorm, and speaking within his own mind, Kaz still felt it important to address her properly.

Lashing her figurative tail, Miaow replied, ᱿Kaz, we've planned this. Just open a portal and let's go.᱿

Pressing his magic out and binding it with a spell, Kaz sought not to make a portal but just to rip himself from Niflheimr and plant him in the forest he remembered Artemis living in. It wasn't a delicate spell by any means, and he was not subtle about throwing a lot of magic into it.

The chill of a blizzard lasted nearly three seconds after Kaz appeared in a warm forest. It was a comfortable temperature, but then for Kaz that now extended well below freezing. Checking to make sure he had all his things—his cloak with its extradimensional pockets, the long sword at his right hip, and a shield strapped to his back—he stepped away from the point of his arrival.

᱿The forest just went quiet.᱿

"Yeah, Miaow, I know. I would say it was my presence doing that, but I think it's something else. I—"

"Intruder! Beast! Hunter!"

The shout stole Kaz's attention and he narrowed his senses to the source of it. A woman, standing waist deep in some kind of river, was glaring at him. She was naked—completely so. He knew what she was though didn't recognize this particular water nymph. "Please, I come to speak to the goddess Artemis. I wish no harm."

"You are a man! Just being in this sacred forest causes harm!" The nymph bristled with righteous anger and pointed a delicate finger at Kaz. "Begone the way you came, lest the huntress find you her prey!"

"I do owe her a hunt. Okay. Please let Artemis know that Kaz is awaiting her pleasure to pay her back the hunt he owes her as well as to invite her on a new hunt." Looking around himself, Kaz spotted a nice spot beside a tree and sat down.

Bereft of a comeback that didn't involve actually calling on her goddess, the nymph closed her eyes and sent an honest prayer to Artemis—and was shocked when she felt the presence of Artemis in the stream. Opening her eyes, she saw her deity's face in the water. "An interloper has dared you to hunt him! He won't leave and demands your presence. Should I—Should I drive him away, my lady?"

Artemis' first thought was to let her maiden have her head, but then something occurred to her. "What is his name?"

"He said he was named Kaz—" When Artemis' image in the river disappeared, the nymph felt shocked. She spun in place to glare at the man—expecting him to have done something to interrupt her communion—but he was sitting there with some kind of slate in his hands.

Looking up from his phone, Kaz noticed the nymph staring at him like he'd grown horns (which he definitely hadn't). "Is something wrong? If she's busy, I can just wait here. I promise not to hunt anything in your forest."

Wrapping a cloak of water around herself to maintain her modesty, the nymph stomped her way up the bank of the river (greatly disliking being forced to leave it behind) and toward Kaz. When she was only a few trees away from him, she pointed an accusatory finger at his chest. "Begone before she arrives, lest I carry out your punishment myself!"

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Kaz focused on his clothing, his sword, and his shield. It was a new spell that he'd been working on with Hel. He wove his magic around them and pulled it inward along with the impression of the items. As this was going to reveal him, he chose then to shapechange.

Eyes widening in shock as the man before her stretched out and grew into a long, winged and scaled beast, the nymph felt a hint of panic at the way the monster twisted the ambient magic of the forest into a hurricane around its form—and delivered it into a crystal flower that it held toward her in one talon.

Taken aback, she reached out and took the delicate creation. "It's beautiful."

"Sorry about freaking you out, I just needed you to let Artemis know I was here and figured being a man standing in her forest would be the quickest way to do that." Kaz shook himself a little to release the mana he'd woven into the spell that had created the ice rose out of moisture condensed in the air and let it return to what it had been doing. "Would it be okay if we start over? I'm Kaz."

Able to feel the water in the flower, it took the nymph some few moments to realize it literally was water, but hard. Lifting her head to look at the beast, she pondered how to take what she'd been told. No doubt Artemis was on her way, but she was curious now about the creature. "My name is Rhanis."

"Rhanis?" Kaz worked the word around in his mouth. "Rhanis, I am very glad I met you. I am not sure how long I could have wandered the forest if not for your presence."

For a moment Rhanis was captivated, but then she remembered. "You witnessed me bathing."

"That was actually my mistake, and I apologize. I should have come here as a woman." At Rhanis' confused look, Kaz asked, "Is it so hard to believe I could become a woman when I can become this?"

"But they are fundamentally different." Of course, she'd seen her goddess turn a man into a woman once, but that was in the name of retribution.

Taking a slow breath, Kaz reshaped himself again, rising up to a human form that was similar to his own, but also in similar proportions to what Miaow enjoyed.

Eyes widening in surprise, Rhanis had a moment to process the change before spinning around. "You're unclothed!"

"That tends to happen a lot, I'm sorry." Undoing the earlier spell, Kaz restored his clothing, weapon, and shield to his person and adjusted them a little with his hands to ensure they covered him properly. "I'm clothed now."

᱿You are incorrigible, Kaz.᱿

᱿Yeah. She was being a bit prissy, though. I wonder where Artemis is?᱿

᱿'Prissy'? Kaz, she's a member of the Ancient Greek pantheon. Being a bit prissy is practically a socially advanced and forward thinking individual. Be nice to her, I demand it.᱿

Turning, worried at what she would see next—but yet completely unable to not look—Rhanis relaxed at the sight of Kaz wearing clothing. It was a loose and comfortable-looking outfit, but completely at odds with local custom. She was about to comment on the clothing when she felt the presence of her goddess grow closer. "Artemis comes."

No sooner did Rhanis announce it, but Kaz could feel Artemis' approach. Dropping to one knee, he waited for her to land her chariot and approach. "My lady, Artemis, I apologize for taking so long to return to offer you a chance for another hunt."

"Stand up, Kazuma, Bacchus sent word about Aphrodite's treatment." Approving of Kaz's form, particularly in her forest, Artemis was relieved to see Bacchus had told the truth regarding the young man's recovery. "How did you divest yourself of her poison?"

"Following the ways of an underworld goddess has its advantages. Hel killed me and brought me back in a new body. In the process, she had to rip out every shred of my emotions." Standing up, he noticed Artemis' eyes flick toward the weapon at his waist and then to the shield on his back. "I don't intend to let her make a victim of me again."

"You have the smell of powerful magic about you, Kazuma, and it's not entirely that of others. You mentioned a hunt? You don't—"

"But I do, though I'd like to have the honor of hunting with you, not being hunted by you." Seeing interest in Artemis' eyes, Kaz went on. "As you know, I have made allies and sought a home among some of the Norse gods and creatures. They want to find one of their kin."

"Hunting a god?" Artemis' blood ran hot at the idea. "Whom?"

Stepping closer, Kaz cupped his hand as Artemis leaned close. "Vali, son of Loki and Sigyn."

"Have you met him?" When Kaz shook his head, Artemis pushed further. "Have you met his mother and father?"

"Yes. My patron is his half-sister, and I have met his half-brothers." Relieved to see Artemis' face light up, Kaz asked, "Does that help?"

"Blood is the strongest bond of all. As her follower, you carry a link to—to the lost one. I need a bloodhound to track him, and I have found that bloodhound." Stretching out to Kaz with her magic, Artemis hesitated a moment before touching him—waiting for him to give her the go-ahead.

Kaz knew Artemis planned to change him and charge him with magic. Stripping, he removed his clothes and weapons, placed them all in his cloak and set the latter at Artemis' feet. "I am ready to hunt with you."

There was a big difference between how Kaz transformed himself and what Artemis was doing. Her magic only worked because he let it, but it changed his form and his form filtered how his mind saw the world.

As he dropped to all fours, his arms and legs grew fur and he became a wolfhound embodied. A hand on Kaz's head urged him to lean up into it. Tilting his head, he could see Artemis looking down at him and he could see-feel-smell the excitement in her. She wanted to hunt—he wanted to hunt.

Vali.

Artemis didn't tell him the name, but she triggered in Kaz a remembrance of the god. Tall, strong, smart, and cursed. A wolf smell. A huge shaggy form with teeth the size of daggers and the will to use them. Turning slowly, Kaz could feel a pull in a direction that didn't exist.

Climbing back on her chariot, Artemis howled in excitement and drew her bow. The air around them shimmered and, with her magic latching on to Kaz as their guide, dragged them from her forest and into a far cooler place.

It wasn't either of the two main realms of the gods Kaz had visited before, but he did recognize this place as somewhere he'd been to. It took him only a moment to realize the smell-sight-feel of where he was matched up with Midgard.

Turning in place, he didn't strictly require Artemis' urging him to find the scent and track them down—those were things that Kaz was already working on. It was hard to draw a bearing, but the compass and other social constructs didn't worry him—he picked the right direction and started to run.

The deer pulling Artemis' chariot certainly needed no urging from her to follow Kaz. Preparing an arrow, Artemis set it to her bow but didn't draw. The hunt was on, she just had no idea how long it would last.

No matter how far he ran, how many times he stopped and turned, or doubled back when the trail died—Artemis followed with him. Kaz's every sense was alive and reaching for hints of Vali—of the lost sibling.

Even as the sun drew low on the horizon, Kaz wanted to keep hunting. The energy of the hunt kept him going, kept him able to just run and run without tiring. There was a brief moment—an infinitesimal shift in the world around him—when his sense of Vali went from being somewhere beyond the horizon to he was here and so is his smell.

Kaz's baying only gave Artemis more energy. The magic that wrapped around them and steered them true only became more potent now that Kaz had a trail to follow. "Find him. Hunt him!"

New energy poured into Kaz. He started baying louder and loping into ever faster motion. His senses painted pictures of Vali everywhere—walking this path, sniffing that tree, watering a stump, making a kill, and myriad other activities. His sense of smell guided him true, though, and every time he inhaled Kaz could feel the essence of Vali just a little stronger.

The strength of the trail grew and powered Kaz's conviction. He knew for sure this was it, that they were about to find the wolf. Nearly an hour later, at a moment just before dawn, he broke into a clearing in the forest and saw the wolf on the other side of it.

An echo—a striking gong of acknowledgment—sounded in the still forest as the wolf looked up at Kaz and Artemis, bared its teeth, and charged them.

Kaz was aware of Artemis drawing back her bow, her arrow nocked and ready. He strained against the role in the hunt that she'd put him in and pulled on his own wolf-side.

The ripping of her enchantment threw Artemis off, her arrow flying far above the wolf charging at them. What Artemis hadn't counted on was that the wolf charging at her was still a god, and part of her had to acknowledge that a giant wolf—that only seemed to get bigger the closer it got—was terrifying in its majesty.

Vali saw his life in brief moments in the haze of his self-hatred. Every time he looked too far into the past, he saw his brother in pieces—and he tasted Nari too. His awareness briefly surfaced when another huge wolf, like himself, stood between him and the archer.

In that moment of clarity, as Vali froze, he whispered, "Nari?"

The confused, pained look on the other wolf's face almost broke Kaz's heart. The depth of pain reminded him of the sound Loki had made when the poison dripped on him. "No. I'm not your brother, Vali. Your father and mother sent me to find you."

The confusion clarified into crystalline anger. "You're lying! I killed their son!" Renewing his charge, Vali threw himself at Kaz.

Standing back and watching, Artemis felt helpless. Stepping between the two—outside of her own realm—was a recipe for agony. She watched as Kaz and Vali fought with fervor, claws swiping and fangs snapping.

Soon, blood stained the grass of the forest clearing. When Vali finally managed to get a clear shot at Kaz's throat, he'd had enough with the pointless struggle. Shifting his form, Kaz took on that of his dragon-self, but while that meant Vali had a little height on him, Kaz had far more mass. Employing that mass, Kaz let Vali clamp his fangs into one of his shoulders to get a better grip and threw the warg onto his back. "They all miss you, Vali. They want you back."

Starting to panic a little, Vali had seen few enough creatures and gods who could shape-shift so quickly as to be able to use it in a fight. What annoyed him was he had to let go to reply. "You're lying! I killed my brother!"

"You were there, alone, and killed him?" Kaz asked, trying not to wince at the pain in his shoulder. He'd not been hurt this bad as a dragon before. There was blood flowing down his shoulder from the savage bite, but Kaz wouldn't expend the energy needed to shape-shift the wound away. Instead, he used a small splash of death magic to kill any potential infections and then life to heal it.

"No! Odin and father were there, too."

"And who turned you into a warg?"

Snarling, Vali spat out the name, "Odin."

It was confirmation of what Hel had told him, but Kaz could see so much pain in Vali's eyes—pain aimed inward—that he wasn't sure if he could be convinced to leave. "Why did you attack Nari?"

"I was hungry!" The words echoed around the forest like three strikes of a forge hammer on steel. "I was hungry," he whispered. "I'm still hungry. I can't—I can't stop eating. I almost ate my brother."

Clearing her throat, Artemis drew the look of both Kaz and Vali. "I am neutral in this matter. I was owed a hunt by Kazuma, and this was his payment. Our dealings are complete and I don't have ties to him." She used the reins of her chariot to start the deer turning it around. "But I can tell you, Vali, if I turn a man into a ravenous monster—it is my fault if he eats something he shouldn't."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Vali waited for the archer on the chariot to leave before asking, "Who was that?"

"Artemis," Kaz replied.

"That's not a Norse name. Neither is Kazuma."

"Would Spakr fit me better? What about Blasa?" Shaking himself, Kaz noticed that Vali had wounds too. He didn't ask, just reached out with his magic to start cleaning and healing them.

"Those are fine names. Who are you that can wield life and death like my little sister?" It was more words than Vali had spoken in so long that he was worried he would misspeak. "Wait, is that my sister's magic?"

"Was. Twice now she's brought me back from the dead. Each time she does it her magic seems to grow more attached to me." Stretching his wings out, Kaz gave them a test flap and found himself to be working still.

"You've died twice? And she brought you back each time?"

"I like to think I'm getting better at not dying. I've been training with a sword and shield." Letting his form return to his human-like combat shape, Kaz was in a mild panic until he saw that Artemis had tossed his coat down before she'd left. Walking over, he pulled his clothes out of one pocket and strapped sword and shield on.

Watching the ease with which Kaz transformed stung Vali a little. "If I could become my old self, I could probably teach you some things. Who has been training you?"

"Hel and Fafnir have been teaching me magic. Freyja and Bellona have been instructing me on swordcraft." Kaz looked at Vali—and in particular the magic around him—and tried to find the curse Odin had set. "This looks complicated."

"You're good with magic, too?" Vali asked, scoffing.

"Not the best, but I have learned some tricks. Seeing magic weaves with draconic senses helps." After a few silent minutes watching, Kaz realized what the problem was. The curse was old. Older than any of the magic currently in Vali's body. Normally, curses were renewing and new, and stuck out against the body's older magic. "This is going to be tricky. Maybe we should go back to Hel and—"

"Kazuma or Spakr or whatever your name is—I won't go back to my family unless I can do so on two legs." Glaring at Kaz, the fire burning in Vali didn't come from his curse's effect, but his pride returning and finding his shape ill-fitting.

Kaz couldn't help himself, he barked a laugh at that. "Lucky it was me who found you."

Snarling at a perceived slight, Vali asked, "Why is that?"

"If I can teach a griffon how to shape-shift, I can teach you, Vali. Our enemies will expect you to return triumphant, if at all. They will see a god return to his family with sword, shield, and axe. They will be watching for you." Kaz shifted his form from his masculine combat one to a female Nixe, then to a male undead, and finally back to his normal human self. "The secret to not being seen is to be something they expect but don't fear."

Tilting his head to the side, a trait his wolf-side had given him, Vali mused on the words. "You sound like my father."

The memory of meeting Loki stalled Kaz's mirth dead in its tracks. "I met him. He's still lashed to the rock."

Vali sobered, his emotions thrown into turmoil at the news. "He used my brother—what I didn't eat—to tie father to the stones." The memory rushed up around him and Vali lifted his head up and howled his pain to the sky.

When another voice joined his, Vali looked over to see Kaz as a warg again. As their song soared and the hills echoed it back at them, he eventually felt something—movement.

Staring around, starting to panic, Vali ended his song a moment before the movement halted but turned into awareness that he was being watched. "What—?"

"Jormungandr!" Kaz jumped and spun in a circle in excitement. "I have found him! Vali lives!"

Realization dawned, and Vali felt excitement swell up inside him. His brother—half brother—was part of the world of Midgard and, now, he knew where they were on his giant body. "Please, brother, I need you to keep me from being found. I need to be cured. I need to learn." He looked at Kaz. "And I have found a kindred brother to help with both."

It was hard for Jormungandr to focus on things as small as the two wolves when he was the size of an entire world. He hadn't noticed Vali living on him at all until Kaz stirred him and made him look closer. Now, feeling the words his lost brother said, his will galvanized and he worked his slow, huge mana field to fray and disperse any noise the two would make. Within that forest, no magic would register to an outsider.

The only problem for Jormungandr was that he couldn't move fast. Even as a new day dawned and led into a second, he was barely starting to work the shield that would defend his brother.

Both Kaz and Vali were aware of the magic changes and, over the two days it took for the concealing magic to be wrought, bided their time. It was the first night, however, that Vali met Miaow.

When the sun dipped below the horizon and even the moon was concealed by growing cloud cover, Miaow stretched herself out behind Kaz's sleeping mind. She purred softly as she let him sink into a heavy and well-earned rest—then sat up and shifted her body to her body.

"You are not Kazuma. What is going on here?" Vali asked, his eyes reflecting what little light was available in a deep yellow.

"My name is Miaow, and I am Kaz's familiar. It wasn't easy to be an effective familiar without a body, so we made a deal to share this one." Rolling her shoulders, Miaow sniffed at the air and looked around the forest. "Though I wish he'd have brought me somewhere with some comforts of home."

Curiosity and mirth abounded in Vali as he watched the feline woman walk around the clearing. "I led him on quite the chase. You don't see what each other does when they're in control?"

"Normally, yes. He was focused, however, and Artemis' spell was keeping me from even talking to him. So, instead of being cozy at home with a gorgeous harpy to snuggle with, I will be keeping you company. If you wish to sleep, I'll keep watch."

Vali thought about it. For all the years he'd lived in the forests of Midgard as a warg he had spent the nights hidden in a den—not out in the open. Miaow seemed completely untrustworthy, but Kaz apparently trusted her with his life. "I think the next few days will be tiring enough without me losing sleep."

Miaow waited a moment while Vali settled himself, then she turned and climbed a tree without a hint of effort. Curling up on a branch, she gazed down at Vali and the area around him and pondered the future that was rolling inevitably toward them.

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Kaz was aware that tampering with the curse on Vali before Jormungandr's magic work was in place would be unwise. It left him doing nothing for a whole day but hunt and practice his sword work. After spending the equivalent of years training with Bellona, he had the speed of his actions greatly improved.

Rising from where Miaow had been keeping watch from all night, Kaz dropped down from the tree and landed in a crouch. As he stretched his senses out, he could feel calmness all around. It was like he was in the middle of the ocean and far beneath the waves.

Approaching the fire where he'd cooked the previous evening, he dug out a roasted hock of meat from the coals and started scrubbing the charcoal off it. ᱿How was the night?᱿

᱿It was quiet. This whole forest is calm and tranquil. If there wasn't a pair of big predators living here, I might think it was devoid of life.᱿ It was almost enough to set Miaow's fur on end, but she had kept herself calm despite the strange silence. ᱿And now it's magically quiet too. Will you start trying to undo the curse today?᱿

Kaz nodded, using his magic to remove his clothes and unfold his body into that of his full dragon form. "It is time to undo this curse and free you of it."

᱿I guess that's my answer. Would you like quiet kitty time or would some purring help you focus?᱿

᱿A little purring always helps me keep my train of thought. Thanks again, Miaow.᱿ Clamping his jaws down on the hock, Kaz ripped the meat off the bone easily enough, then he picked the bone up in his mouth and crunched down hard, shattering and grinding the bone to pieces small enough to swallow—along with the delicious marrow.

"Have you had any experience with curses before?" Vali turned his gaze on Kaz. Despite himself, he was impressed with how well he could change his form.

"Yes, actually. And it was a curse laid by a god. I've gotten better at magic since then." With the meat devoured, Kaz flashed Vali a smile and then, slowly, reached out his sense of magic and started testing the threads of mana around him.

The curse was visible immediately. It wasn't a tidy knot of carefully woven magic. No, it was a snarl that coiled around and around Vali so many times that it actually cut into his body like a wounded animal trapped in a fishing line.

"Why is it that the more powerful the magic user the more horrid and rushed their magic? I'm sorry, but this is going to take some time." Kaz set to work. He fashioned some death mana into a blade and brought it to the least tight parts of the curse. Cutting at them, the strands of mana were still extremely hardy, though his tool was excellent at severing them.

Vali could feel Kaz's work. Centuries of being bound and in constant pain began to ease one step at a time. He couldn't see what Kaz was doing, but as each hour progressed he felt a little more freedom.

By nightfall Kaz had the loose strands of mana cut away. His own mana blade started to feel dull and hours of tight concentration with only Miaow's purring to accompany him meant that he was ready to rest. "I can't go on, for now, without making mistakes. How does it feel?"

"I can think clearer than I have in several mortal lifetimes. This couldn't go fast enough, but I can see you need rest. Lay down and let your familiar feed you." Vali stood and shook off the fatigue of a day spent immobile.

Rising, Miaow stretched Kaz's draconic body and reshaped herself down into a griffon. "All of these forms are at least part feline. It makes it so much nicer to start the night."

"This one, I can understand, but surely you don't mean the dragon?"

"Dragons are at least eighty percent feline where it counts. I'm hungry, let's hunt." Leaping off, Miaow dashed into the forest to hunt, letting Vali give chase. What surprised her was hearing him laugh.

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

The night was long, and though Vali grew weary, the excitement of having someone to hunt with was rejuvenating. A companion to share the night's hunt with almost made his exile bearable. Almost.

As days wore on, and Kaz worked on the curse by day, he got to know Miaow by the light of the moon. She was canny, fast, and brutally pragmatic—all qualities he admired. If she didn't mention her lover at least once a night, he would have considered propositioning her.

Instead of pursuing her as a potential lover, Vali tried to shove her into the role of sister—though without having ever had one, apart from the half-sister of Hel, it wasn't a task that came quickly to him.

Unfortunately she was also the first female peer he'd seen in many, many years. The sight of her running left him wanting to lag behind, and he did. It wasn't until he almost ran into her that he realized he'd been caught. "Miaow, I—"

"You've spent the last four evenings staring at me like I was a piece of steak and you don't know where to start. Vali, I appreciate the attention, but I have a girlfriend." At Vali's crestfallen look, she rolled her eyes. "Look, when we get back, I'll ask if she wants to have some fun with you and me, or if she'd be okay with just you and me. Things have changed since you were cursed, I bet."

Sitting back and trying to get his head around what Miaow had said, Vali fell back into wolfish actions and tilted his head to the side a little. "So you're saying I am allowed to look?" The smirk on her face, that he recognized as such now despite her having an inflexible beak, told him she was fine with being looked at. "Then I will look and wait."

Turning back to the scent trail she'd been following, Miaow was relieved at how Vali had responded. She could, of course, pick male forms for herself for a while, but she was at heart a vain cat. "There's a bear—"

"It's not a bear. It's a tribe of Odin's followers who think themselves bears. They dress in bear skins and their axes have clawed paws on the back of them. They don't normally stray this far into the forest." His senses alert now, Vali ignored the stunning creature beside him and sent his senses out. "They are a scouting party. They know better than to seek game in these woods."

"Because of you?" Miaow asked.

Flashing a wolfish grin, Vali nodded. "Because of me. Come."

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

The woods had gained a new legend. A beast that was half cat and half bird, that stalked with the giant warg and was its mate. They hunted as one and the female was every bit as an exceptional stalker as its mate.

"It should only be a few more days. Five at most. Then, when I remove the curse, you will be free to return." He looked at Vali, trying to ignore the wild tale that Miaow was recounting in his head. "But, you know what I'd rather do?"

Intrigued, Vali raised one eyebrow. With every passing day that Kaz had weakened the curse, he'd felt more and more himself. He was done with this life—of being alone. He wanted to see his family again.

"I'd like to see if I can smash it in the next night and day, then sleep a day while you and Miaow protect me—so we can return together well-rested. Sound good?"

Vali considered it. The plan would mean they would both be more themselves when the time comes to return, him with a full day of being human again, Kaz with a day of rest after what even Vali had to admit was dedicated work at curse-breaking. "It would suit me, but so long as you feel up to it…"

"Then I'll get started." Discarding his humanoid form in favor of his dragon shape, Kaz looked over Vali and the tattered remains of the curse that worked hard to keep itself together. Flicking out his will and arming it with a blade of obsidian mana, he went to work excising the strands one by one.

When Kaz worked through the day, past the evening twilight and into the evening, Vali was starting to feel eager, but also restless. The curse felt barely there. He could almost feel how he could stretch and break it. The urge grew, but he pulled back from the need to be free of it. Looking up at Kaz, at the strange man who he already thought of as the brother he hadn't been forced to murder, Vali ground his teeth. "It's almost gone?"

"Almost, but it's putting all its effort into rebuilding itself. If I stopped now, and didn't clean it all away, it would grow back on its own and bind you anew." Carefully picking his next, writhing target, Kaz carefully severed the next thread of curse and burned it away with a visualized cauldron of death magic.

When the moon turned out to be dark, Kaz summoned a towering light from the life mana that surged at his constant use of its twin. With his own mana dominating the clearing, Kaz redoubled his efforts, cutting faster and faster as he freed whole parts of Vali from Odin's curse.

Not wanting to distract him, Miaow didn't so much as breathe a coherent thought in his head, only softly purring. She knew he liked that. When the first rays of false dawn speared over the land, illuminating the sky in red, it was a prelude to the rain that started falling not an hour later.

"How close are you?" Vali asked.

"Close. I would just tear it all free now, but if anything remains—You know what will happen." Another thread cut free, a new one selected. Kaz was working on predatory instincts now. The curse was his prey and he was the capable hunter that cut off its escape again and again, slowly bringing the chase to its conclusion.

The second Kaz removed and killed the last piece of the curse, there was a tremble in the air. Vali's own magic pulsed, swelled, and was freed from the prison Odin had placed it in. Tilting his head back and howling, Vali flexed his magic and stood up, and up, and up. He stopped when he stood once more as a god and not an animal.

Sparing a glance for the dragon, now collapsed and on his side, Vali crouched once more and reached a hand out to stroke Kaz's shoulder. "Rest, brother. Your work is nothing short of amazing. I see now why father sent you."

Stirring and waking, Miaow looked up at Vali and, smirking, noticed he had not a stitch of clothing on. "Kaz is resting now." Sitting up, she could feel the strain Kaz had gone through not only in his mental state, but in the way his body was sluggish. "I won't be hunting tonight."

"Then nor will I. I made a promise, and I will not leave your side until Kazuma can stand at mine." Clothing was such a foreign concept for Vali of late that when Miaow pulled some things out of Kaz's bag and passed them to him, at first he wasn't sure what to do with them. Covering his initial confusion, he quickly pulled the shirt and shorts on. "He won't miss them?"

"He has others. Besides, he can always be something that doesn't wear clothes." Miaow gestured to herself with one of her draconic talons. "Where you'll be going tomorrow, him being a dragon would be somewhat expected. Speaking of which, you should sleep."

Looking at the least likely guardian he had ever met, Vali laughed. "I should. It's odd for a god to feel this weary, but I need sleep and—and I trust you."

Lashing her tail in a sign of affection, Miaow nodded to Vali. "Then rest."

It took him nearly an hour to finally close his eyes, but the moment he did Miaow could feel a stillness settle over the clearing. Vali was a god, and she now knew what it was like to have one paying attention to her for a significant amount of time. It was a heady rush of power, but at the same time she felt duty. She'd promised Vali, and she had her ongoing promise to Kaz.

Swollen with that power and obligation, Miaow curled herself around the sleeping form as best she could and reached a wing up and over Vali.

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Kaz woke to a mind wrapped around his. ᱿Miaow?᱿

᱿Good. You're awake. I was starting to get bored.᱿ Despite her complaint, Miaow didn't uncurl from her spot. ᱿I've been keeping watch, but nothing has moved in the entire forest. Nothing dares.᱿

᱿Let me guess, because there's Jormungandr blanketing it with his power, a god reawoken, and a dragon in it?᱿ Kaz asked.

᱿Okay. Probably. Why don't you sleep longer? I'll wake when—Oh, he's waking up.᱿

᱿How can you tell?᱿

᱿Can't you feel his power?᱿ Miaow tried to convince herself she wasn't a little house cat playing with gods, but she was literally a house cat playing with gods. She realized, too, that when one had made a pass at her, she hadn't exactly said no. ᱿You take over. I need to think about things.᱿

᱿I—᱿ Kaz didn't even get the thought out and Miaow was shoving herself toward the back of his mind, in the process pushing him forward and into control. Drawing his wing back from Vali, he slowly uncurled himself and stood up.

"Miaow? No. You're Kazuma." Gaining his feet, Vali felt more himself than he had in a long time. "You're rested too?" The clarity afforded to him now let Vali spread his thoughts out and find where Miaow was nestled within Kaz's head. It might seem like a weird symbiosis, but to him the image was reassuring—they were partners within the body. "I wish to see my family."

"The first has been with you all along." Kaz reached into the ground and called out to Jormungandr. Rather than the omnipresence of his power that had been concealing the forest, Kaz felt the great serpent's attention focus on them—and Vali in particular.

A rapturous grin spread across Vali's face and he dropped to his knees. "My brother! My big brother! It's good to see you too!"

Kaz was aware of Jormungandr's side of the conversation only by how very small it made him feel. He was currently a dragon, yes, but the World Serpent was impossibly bigger than him. ᱿I know why you're hiding now.᱿

᱿It's too big! Too much power! Ugh, I'm just a cat!᱿

᱿You are not just anything, Miaow. You're my other half.᱿ Mentally reaching out, Kaz pictured himself stroking her imaginary, bristling fur. ᱿Calm down. They are our friends and our family.᱿

"Kaz?" Vali asked, and laughed when he finally got a reaction. "Are you ready to go?"

"Y-Yeah. Hold on, let me just—" Kaz opened a portal. It drew on both life and death in equal parts, ripping its way through the Norse worlds and the other end was the entrance to Hel's hall. He stepped through first to see Hel glaring at him—then her expression shifted to surprise.

"I didn't expect to see you today K—" Everything Hel had been about to say died in her throat at the sight of the second figure to come through the portal. Vali stood wearing a Nirvana t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants, his gaze steady until he spotted her. A rush of motion, a crushing grip, and Hel was reunited with her lost brother.

For all Kaz was a brother in spirit and Jormungandr couldn't actually touch him without ripping the world apart, Vali finally had a sibling—even a half sibling—of his own blood to touch and remind himself of his heritage. "Hel. It's been so long."

"Kazuma found you." It wasn't a question. Hel was looking over her brother's shoulder at Kaz, a big smile on her face. "I knew he could do it."

"Where's father? Where are our mothers?" Vali only reluctantly released Hel.

"Vali, there's something important you need to know about your return," Hel said, making sure she had his attention. When she did, she said, as calmly as she could, "You returning is the start of Ragnarok."

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