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Chapter-18- A Were Aware In A Ware

Friday, December 3 Coastal Warehouse, XX state ...

Rama Darken , in his current form, was a black-furred werewolf with mottled dark gray sections on his chest, elbows, inner thighs and the tip of his tail. He tensed his body and strained.

In his clawed paws, he lifted a large man over his head. "Last time," Rama roared. "Where is Aris Falcon and how do I find him?"

"I don't know no guy by that name," said the soldier, "I told you I'm not working for whoever that is!"

Rama tightened his back muscles and hurled the man against a wall.

The warehouse was fairly large. Flat pallets lined the center area in a grid, loaded down with food supplies, weapons crates and other supplies. Most of them were secured with shrink-wrap.

Another werewolf approached. She was white with reddish-brown highlights, which started at the top of her head and went down her back. The pelt of her chest and tummy were white, all the way down to her legs, where the golden highlights resumed from her knees to her feet.

A wolfish grin tugged at the corner of Rama's muzzle. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, handsome," she replied. "These guys are working for some guy calling himself ... I kid you not ... Loki. Yeah. Like, the father of Fenris - _that_Loki. This loon even told these guys to worship him. And then he did stuff to make them think he's some sort of god."

Rama's smile disappeared, replaced with confusion. "So some supernatural guy is posing as a freaking god? What a whack-job. Man, and here I thought these guys worked for Aris Falcon. God, at this rate, I'll never find my father."

"Rama," she said tenderly. The female wolf approached him and placed her padded palm upon his chest. "You'll find him. You heard your mother, he found her. Just be patient. You'll meet him."

"But they're traveling separately. She's headed to Africa to help find some ... relic. And she said my father is here on the east coast. She said he is hunting down that Falcon-guy's operation."

"We'll find him, Rama. I promise." She leaned close and brushed her maw against his. Her whiskers eased back along her svelte muzzle. They shared a kiss.

"You always know how to relax me, Aimee."

"So, you know the most important question now, right?"

"What's that?"

"If the people that were guiding this place aren't affiliated with that Aris Falcon guy ... then what's going on here, and why is this warehouse full of food, guns and supplies?"

"Yeah," Rama mused. "Yeah, you're right, that is a good question." He approached the man lying on his side. "Hey, mercenary-goon, do you work for Loki?"

The man glared up at Rama. "Who told you that?"

"I'll die before you get answers from me." And as if to punctuate his final statement, the mercenary's body began to burn from inside of his armored vest.

Rama and Aimee exchanged horrified expressions.

"Are you looking for me?" A man approached from the far end of the warehouse. He had blond hair and white skin indicative of a Scandinavian man. He looked from Aimee to Rama and back. "Are you underwhelmed? Should I have dressed up like the actor who portrayed me in motion pictures?"

Aimee narrowed her eyes. "You're Loki?"

"I am. And you are a lovely couple." His eyes zeroed in on a necklace worn by Rama. "Ah, the symbolic Gleipnir. I'm not sure if I should be honored or insulted you wear such, Rama."

Rama ignored the use of his name. "You seriously think you're Loki?" asked Rama, incredulous.

"Yes, my dear grandchildren. I am Loki. The father of Fenris the wolf, who will take the life of Odin. The father of Jormungand, who will slay Thor. I am the father of Hel, and thus grandfather of the underworld and its damned."

"You're full of shit," Rama said. "You don't cause the world to end. And if you did, you would die, too. I know enough of the lore to know that much."

"Who cares if I die? Life is meaningless. But before I die, I will give it meaning. And when I find my wife, I will leave it all to her."

Aimee cocked her head. "You're loyal to your wife? Haven't you slept with half the women in Norse mythology?"

"Not to mention Loki supposedly banged a male horse and got knocked up," Rama said with a grin, still not willing to believe the man's claim of identity.

"Yes, yes," Loki said with a sigh, "And I once played tug-of-war with a goat using only my testicles."

Aimee and Rama grimaced.

Loki smirked. "But what man would have the gull or the balls to do such a thing? I did it in order to save the gods from the wrath of the giantess, Skadi."

Aimee blinked. "I'll have to look that one up in my spare time. We're here looking for a man named Aris Falcon."

"No, you're not," said Loki. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. "You're here to find Rufus, the father of..." Loki nodded towards Rama. "You."

"You called me by my name already. Big deal - so you were listening in to our conversation, huh?" Rama held his claws outwards, palms up, at hip height. "I'm not impressed."

"Would you be if I told you that Rufus is here looking for you, boy? You see? I know my grandchildren by name. There are so few of you left that I know all of you." He glanced between the two again. "I wonder if you're grandchildren of Váli? Or perhaps you belong to Skoll or Hati."

Rama turned to Aimee and quietly said, "Skoll and Hati are the children of Fenris."

"Wasn't that big into the mythology," she said. "So all this crap in this warehouse is yours? It's not going to Falcon?"

"Yes, my dear, it is mine. No, it is not going to Falcon." Loki stroked at the neat, trim lines of his black, recently grown beard. "No matter, you'll have the spirit of Fenris in your hearts, and that's all that matters. I simply wanted to meet the so-called werewolf messiah before he dies."

Rama narrowed his gaze. His ears laid flat atop of his furred head. "You're not Loki, and you don't know crap about me. The only thing you have in common with the real Loki is that you're a liar and a conman."

Loki nodded to Aimee. "Your father is here, too. And he is looking for you. Have fun with that. I'm off to find my wife. And yes, Aimee, I have slept with quite a number of lovers. Yes, Rama, one was a horse; I did it to save Freya."

"You are out there. Like, you are _really_out there," Rama said. "You turned into a chick, banged a male horse, and supposedly had an eight-legged horse you gave to Odin. My mother educated me on Norse mythology. I'm not impressed by your version of it."

Loki shrugged off Rama's attitude and said, "My son was tamed by Odin. Now the great old buffoon rides my son into battles. And, when Fenris is free, Odin will die upon my son's back for the disrespect he has shown me and my children."

"You are crazy," said Rama. His ears perked back up. "Seriously, you're delusional."

"Perhaps. But the two of you will be dead soon. I despise your kind. Disgusting, filthy wolves."

Rama took a menacing step towards Loki. "Two of your sons are wolves, two of your grandchildren are wolves ... yet you hate them?"

Loki sneered. "The gods turned my son Váli into a wolf. And they used him to slaughter my other son Narfi, whose entrails were used to chain me down. Then turned his intestines to iron so that I was bound."

Rama grimaced. Aimee cringed.

"They forced my wife and I to watch the travesty." There was pain in Loki's eyes. "For that insult, they will pay dearly."

Rama lowered his eyes for a moment. Aimee replied with a similar look.

Loki cut his eyes from one werewolf to the other. "Empathetic are you? Mm. I may have to speak to Hel, so I might visit you after your deaths." He lips curled up at the corners, as if forcing a faux sneer. "...So that I ... can have the last word."

"If that's really what happened," said Aimee, seeing the pain in his eyes, "you didn't deserve that. But whatever you have against werewolves, that isn't our fault."

"Some are born into fault; they are misunderstood and hated. That is all I have in common with you, female dog." Loki's body changed, tearing his clothes apart.

The deity's back elongated, and his handsome human face became large and cylindrical. Within seconds, Loki had transformed himself into a mare.

The female horse neighed at them.

Rama and Aimee were not only surprised by the transformation, but also surprised by the speed and ease of the change.

The horse spoke English in a feminine voice. "The body of my son, Fenris, is chained until the end of days. The Gleipnir holds him by fragmenting his spirit. And from that, werewolves were born. You see, a fraction of his soul is divided out to every werewolf across the globe."

Rama and Aimee remained speechless. Rama moved in front of Aimee, protectively.

The mare continued, "And when the last of your kind parish, Fenris will be whole again. The full power of his spirit will allow him to break the bonds that have chained him. And then the Ragnarök will commence."

Rama narrowed his eyes at the horse. "I've never seen a weremare before. What're you going to do, kick us to death?"

"You are not lucky enough to know a battle with me," the horse sneered.

Rama smirked, keeping his claws outstretched and ready. "Goddamn, what is up with so-called bad guys, and their monologue-ing? No wonder one of the gods sewed your mouth shut for a while."

"Do not speak of Brokk."

Rama smirked. "That's it! That was his name. Hey, you know the lore pretty well, but that doesn't really make you the real Loki."

"You'll see, Rama. I've already left chaos and destruction in my wake. The Celestial Realm has likely fallen by now. I've used one of man's greatest weapons against him in the distance west. I left a shell in the once-great city of San Francisco. All that remains is to kill the last of your kind."

Rama held his claws out. "You'll have to get through me first."

"We are not fated to fight, werewolf messiah. My next fight is with Heimdall. And then I will leave this world to my wife, and she will become the mother of humanity - the mother she deserves to become once again."

Rama tilted his head. "You don't want to fight? Are you serious? You threaten us, then turn down a fight?"

"Your battle is ahead of you, Rama." The mare galloped off at a high rate of speed.

Rama and Aimee found themselves alone again with the injured mercenary, lying on the concrete.

Aimee swallowed. "That horse ... didn't have any balls. He turned into a female. I didn't know shape shifters were capable of that."

Rama grimaced. "Maybe the goat ripped them off during the tug-of-war bit."

Aimee sighed through her nose with a grimace. "That would be funny if I wasn't starting to believe that weirdo really might be Loki. Call it woman's intuition, but I have a bad feeling about that creep."

The rolling door across the warehouse, which Loki used to escape, filled with the shadows of armed men.

The mercenaries filtered calmly into the warehouse with their guns raised. The group fanned out around Rama and Aimee.

Rama put himself between the attackers and Aimee. "I take it you guys are the worshippers?"

One of the gunman said, "You seen what Loki can do. The man can do anything he wants."

Aimee pursed her wolfish lips together. She looked around at the gunman. "That man ... er, lady horse ... wants to end the world. You're okay with that?"

"A thousand survivors will live in peace for a thousand years," said another gunman, adding, "Their descendants will prosper peacefully for a millennium. We're the first of Loki's worshippers. Yeah, I'd back a crazy deity. It's said Loki dies, too. In the end, all that's left are humans."

"Sounds like a good damn deal to me," said another.

Another gunman added, "And then we, the meek, inherit the Earth. It all starts by killing all the werewolves."

Rama tensed up. His fur stood up, causing him to look larger and fiercer. He roared in anger. "Stay. The fuck. Away from her."

"Let these stupid animals have it," shouted one of the gunmen.

Rama felt himself bowled back.

The gunfire roared and twinkled about them.

He felt a heavy weight on his body and shifted beneath it to face Aimee. "Are you okay baby?"

"Rama," she shouted over the sound of gunfire, "I'm okay, babe!" Her last spoken word was obnoxiously loud as it coincided with an abrupt cease of gunfire.

Rama shifted again and pushed at a warm body strewn across them. His paws felt something soft and furry. He pushed, rolling the tan-furred body off of them.

Aimee sat up and looked around.

Rama looked down at what appeared to be a wounded lion. But at second glance, it wasn't a feral lion. It was more human-like. He licked his lips. "I thought werelions were a myth." He rolled the feline man onto his back and saw the fur matted in blood. "He's been shot."

Aimee looked up and swallowed. "Rama..."

Rama turned around. An all-black werewolf stood at the center of the group of mercenaries. Most of them were lying on the floor, wounded or dead.

The mighty black wolf held the last two men by their throats and roared in their faces. "Where'n th' fuck is he?!"

Rama remained silent, watching the black werewolf, trying to shake information out of a mercenary

"He just left!" said an armed man in a muffled voice. The man struggled to speak due to a powerful paw around his throat.

The black werewolf snarled in the man's face. "I saw a goddamn horse leave, but I ain't seen nobody on it. His name is Rama-fuckin'-Darken. He'd be twenty-six..."

"I don't know no Rama Darken!" the mercenary said. His words were cut short. The black werewolf crushed his enemy's neck and threw through other mercenary into a nearby crate with such force it broken the man's neck.

"He was supposed to be here!" the third werewolf shouted, disappointment in his voice. "Where are you Albert?! We gotta keep lookin'!"

Silence.

"Albert? Where'na hell you get to?"

Aimee stood up first. "I think your friend was shot."

Rama stood up slowly, adjacent to her. "Are you ... Rufus?"

Rue saw the two werewolves stand up from behind one of the loaded pallets. His muzzle dropped open, staring at them in silence. After a moment, he said, "Well I'll be damned."

Rama felt a gentle push against Rama's back. "Go," she said, "I'll try and stop the blood flow on this other guy."

Rufus approached. In a soft voice, he asked, "Rama?"

"Yeah," Rama replied in a soft tone. His nose twitched, sniffing at the air. His ears laid back and he gently bit his lower lip. "Loki was right. You're really here."

Rufus looked around. "Loki's here?"

"He's gone now."

Rufus approached Rama and drew him into a masculine hug. Silence. The two werewolves embraced. "Listen," said Rue in a soft tone, "If'n you wanna deck me for not bein' there for you while you's was growin' up ... go on. Haul off and gimmie a piece of yer mind. I deserve it."

"My mom said she thought you died before I was born. And when I talked to her on the phone recently, she said you guys met up. She told me that you didn't know you'd even had a son and that you were upset you missed it all."

"Yeah." Rufus sighed and closed is eyes. "I didn't say that to her. But she's right. She's a perceptive woman, yer mom. And we're talkin' again."

"Yeah. She told me you guys had chemistry the second time around."

"Heh, damn. Listen to you, talkin' in that-there Greek dialect. I take it you got to grow up on YiaYia's cooking, huh?"

"You knew YiaYia?"

"It's a long story. I met'er before I met'cher mother. So, you met Loki, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess. There's no way that guy is the _real_Loki. Maybe he's just a shape shifting asshole." Rama stepped back from the hug. "I can't believe I'm really meeting you."

"That guy is the devil," Rufus said.

"He's just a shape-shifter."

Rufus shook his head. "Naw. I think he's legit. He came from the Celestial Realm. I been huntin' that pecker head."

Rama rubbed a paw against the fuzzy side of his muzzle. "What do you know about him?"

Rufus said, "I been reading up on him since Natalia been woken back up. He was a harmless little jerk for a while, then he turned gods against each other over Freyja's necklace. Later he cut Sif's hair and it's suggested in the subtext that he raped her. After that, he kills this dude, Baldur. And when the gods kill one of his sons and tie the dude up with the kid's guts, and torture him with snake poison, Loki swore to end the gods and rule over the survivors."

"I just can't believe that guy was really the real Loki ... and I meant to say, what do you know about him coming here?"

"Kiddo, I been trackin' him. He's legit."

"You can't be serious."

Rufus nodded firmly. "He escaped from the Celestial Realm, attempted to kill Natalia Kincade, and made a break for it. Then he started a worshippin' cult, and used people in the US Navy to help him steal nuclear weapons."

Rama stared at Rufus. "Is he...?"

"Ayup. That-there prick nuked San Francisco. He got one more he plans on using. You're sure that was him that got away?"

"He turned into a horse and literally sprinted out of here. He, uh ... turned into a girl horse."

Rufus sighed. "Yeah. Loki can shape-shift and gender-bend at will. He gave Odin his son to get in good with the king of the gods or whatever. He's a tricky sumbitch, willin' to give up his own kids to get whatever he wants."

Rama rubbed his furry face. "I should have taken my mother's history lessons serious."

"You okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Rufus looked over the younger werewolf.

"He sounded like he was angry about it. He mentioned his children, and he acted like he was pissed." Rama looked up from his paws and laughed. "I finally meet you and we're talking about Norse mythology. All these things I wanted to say to you and I don't know how to talk about any of it. I'm just rambling because I'm afraid to talk to you like a son to his father."

Rufus replied with a weak sort of half-grin, which tugged at the corners of his muzzle. "That makes two of us, brother."

Rama replied with a tired half-smile of his own. "Brother, huh?"

"Heh. Sorry. Funny, though, I always call people 'son,' and then I meet my son and I can't say nothing right." Rue paused and shrugged. "I know it's a double negative. You get my meaning."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry to ruin the moment," said Aimee from nearby. "Father and son, first meeting and all, but if we don't get this man some help, he's going to die."

Rufus swallowed. He approached the silent, motionless lion splayed out on the concrete behind one of the large supply crates. "I take it you're Aimee."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Darken."

Rue swallowed again. "Darlin', that there is Albert DeLioncourt."

"Okay?" she tilted her head. "You say that like I should know him."

"He's yer daddy. No, I ain't foolin'. He's legit yer biological daddy. We's too far away from Cybil to patch'em up." Rufus knelt besides the stunned female werewolf. He cupped Albert's tan-furred maw and said, "Al! Wake on up, son! You gotta transform human so we can getcha to a hospital!"

DeLioncourt was unconscious.

"Shit. We gonna have to do this the hard way. We need to find epinephrine and give'em a shot to wake'em up. There'll be something we can use in them-there supply crates. Get to finding the medical supplies."

Aimee looked down at the lion, stunned.

"Hey," Rufus snapped his padded fingertips in front of her face. "You can slap me later for not telling you five minutes earlier. I didn't know he was hurt. But right now, if we're gonna save his life, we need to rip through these supplies, find the medical shit, 'n find adrenaline."

Aimee blinked away the shock. She looked down at her large paw pressed against the lion's torso. "If he bleeds out, he'll die in minutes. Go; you two do it. Hurry!"

Rufus turned to Rama. "When this shit's over, we'll catch up over a beer. I promise. Let's find the medical shit. It'll be mixed in with everything else."

The two split up. Rufus shouted back, "If it smells like guns or food, ignore it. You's gonna be sniffin' for sterile scents, like rubbin' alcohol, 'n all that."

Rama nodded, sniffing at the nearest crate. He ignored it and moved on to the next. "Right, right. Aimee, just keep him alive. We'll find what we need." Rama paused and asked, "If his heart starts beating real fast, won't that kill him?"

"Naw," Rufus called back, as the two got further apart in the warehouse. "It'll wake'em up. When he transforms back to human, it'll seal his immediate wounds. It's for the best; gunshots are reported to cops. They'll see he's bleedin' internally, cut'em open and give'em blood transfusions. But havin' a smaller body'll be better right now anyhow, since he done lost all that blood. Dammit, though, it's probably thin as hell from all that booze he knocked back this morning."

"Hurry you two," Aimee said. She looked down at the lion and swallowed. She whispered, "I never thought I would meet you. Please don't die on me."

Rama used his claws to shred shrink-wrap. "I might have something over here." He pulled out a box of prepacked syringes in single packages. "This one was marked 'synthetic adrenaline.' That's the same thing right?"

Rufus hurried back across the warehouse. "Bingo, kiddo! Let's get Albert awake, get'em changed, and take him to the hospital. The rental car is outback. We can't move'em until he changes. He won't be stable until after the transformation."

Aimee swallowed down a lump of emotion. "I ... I just, I don't understand. He's a lion; I'm a werewolf. I don't get it."

Rufus and Rama brought the epinephrine package over to Albert. Rue opened the back with his teeth and looked at the injector in the package. "I cain't even handle this lil' fangled thing. We're all gonna have to transform back now."

Rama groaned. "Our spare clothes are out in the car we brought."

Rufus nodded. "Mine're in my rental." He handed the key fob, clipped to his large gym shorts, to Rama. "Bring the clothes for all of us, drive one of those rental cars in here, as close as you can get it. We'll lift Albert up and get him in the trunk. Put the seats flat. We gotta keep him flat on his back, best we can."

Rama hurried out of the warehouse.

Rufus tensed up. Fur fell away from his body, dropping to the floor all around him. His gym shorts became loose on his hips. He gave a yank on the drawstring.

Rufus groaned softly in pain as his tissue reset over the shifting bone structure. The epinephrine injector perfectly fit in his human hand. "Time to wake this poor sumbitch up. And he ain't gonna like it. I know you's in shock, darlin', but you need to keep your wits. We'll make it. He gonna be a'ite, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she whispered.

"I never do. And I just promised." Rufus smiled. "You're a right perdy girl. Rama's a lucky boy. Just keep that pressure on Al's wound. We're gonna get through this. If Albert says somethin' stupid, you need to ignore it. He's drunk as a skunk right now."

Aimee nodded in silence. Her eyes glistened with tears of fear. "Don't let him die. I haven't even had the chance to meet him yet."

"Rufus?! What's going on!"

Rue looked back. "Kalen!" His eyes shifted to the woman at Kalen's side. "Carmen! Perfect timing, you two! We're gonna need all the help we can get, and someone to drive the other rental car! Kalen, you fed lately?"

"What?" Kalen Kincade sniffed at the air. "Blood. Lots of it. Jesus Christ, this place is rife with blood."

"Yeah, I tore up some attackers. Sue me later. Get'cher pale ass over here. We're gonna need to hold this guy down in two seconds."

Carmen and Kalen hurried over. Carmen put her hands on the lion's legs. "My God, they're real."

Kalen moved into a position adjacent to Aimee to better hold Albert's arms to the floor. "So the rumors are true about him."

"Ayup." Rufus took a deep breath. "Keep'em steady. I'mma wake him up so he can go back to human."

"And me?" asked Aimee. "Just keep my hand over the wound, even after he transforms?"

"Ayup. Just keep that pressure, girl." Rufus plunged the epinephrine into Albert's heart and plunged the trigger. "Get ready. He gonna get real wild in a few seconds."

"I'm ready." She used her other paw to hold Albert's shoulders.

The lion's eyes shot open, bloodshot and wide...

X

X

Celestial Realm...

Tamamo-no-Mae adjusted the lay of her kimono. She adjusted the lay of the fabric. It felt strange, after having worn nothing for over a month in human time.

Tamamo straightened her back and took a breath, waiting in front of the door. It opened, and Hathor stood on the other side. Tamamo bowed to her. "May I join you?"

"You wish to drink with me?"

"I have brought great shame to my friends. I paid penance by bringing myself loneliness. I gave Conner a deserving mate. After pairing them, I have stepped back. I resumed my loneliness. Now, I care stand no more."

Hathor looked over Tamamo, sighed, and gestured for her to come through. "I should warn you that I am nothing like my alter-ego, Sekhmet."

"I know." Tamamo stepped through the dwelling and folded her hands.

Hathor sighed again. She turned back to Tamamo and placed her hands on the kitsune's shoulders. "I know of your great shame. You dishonored them with an unspeakable disrespect. I know of your sin."

Tamamo tensed up. Her eyes dropped to the floor. "I have remained out of touch with everyone for as long as my heart could handle staying alone voluntarily."

"You sought to use the succubus to heal your wounded womb?"

"I did. But it didn't work. I alienated my loved ones and risked everything for something that did not work."

Hathor narrowed her gaze. "As Sekhmet, I could have healed you. As myself, I could have blessed your womb. Did you reach out for help? No. You used your friends, instead of asking for help. That is your lesson."

"My lesson?"

"You never use your friends to attain your needs. You alienate yourself. Instead, you make yourself available to them, and they, in turn, make themselves available to you. You have failed to properly utilize your friends."

Tamamo nodded. Her gaze drifted down and to the left. "You are correct. I hope to have learned from my folly."

"Folly," Hathor said with a smirk. "Interesting how you've stolen an old English word, stolen from the French. This comes from spending so much time with the boy whose heart you betrayed, and the succubus whose friendship you soiled."

Tamamo cringed. "Perhaps coming here was not a good idea."

"You came to see your friend, not me." Hathor waved for Tamamo to follow. "Perhaps you wish to sip fine Egyptian beer."

"I have never had such."

"And perhaps you prefer to drink with the friend you have grown to know and prefer."

"We fought alongside one another," Tamamo replied.

"Mm." Hathor stepped into her kitchen. "I dislike English, really. It is unfortunate that you do not speak old Egyptian, and I do not know Japanese."

"Sekhmet did not mind English," said Tamamo.

Hathor nodded. "Sekhmet did not care one way or the other, truthfully."

"I have grown to like it. Conner speaks it. His Latin is deplorable, and he understands Japanese far better than he speaks it."

Hathor poured a cloudy brew from a jar and brought a glass to Tamamo. She poured herself one. She sat down at a table but by the time she was seated, her face had grown fur, elongated, and her fangs were that of a lioness.

"Sekhmet," Tamamo said softly. She sipped the beer. "Mm. I expected it to taste like bread. But it's quite sweet."

"Yes. It's very nutritious and thick. It's good for you."

Tamamo nodded.

"But let me tell you if you ever try to use me, you will regret it."

Tamamo nodded again. "Hathor spoke to me of asking for help, instead of using people for my needs."

"You came to ask for my help?"

"I have."

"What do you want?"

"It's not for me."

Sekhmet tilted her head. "You want me to help you, but not for you?"

"I want you to help Karla and Conner. I want your help to keep them alive when they go to war. They will be going up against Aris Falcon, Loki, and Sigyn."

"Do you know what's happened since your disappearance?"

"No."

Sekhmet growled softly at the base of her throat. She drank from her glass of beer and said, "Ragnarök began in the Norse realm. All that is left is for Fenris, the wolf, to become free. There is a great chaos sweeping the realm of Asgard."

"So you will help them?"

"I will help them. But first, you will help me. That is how friendship works. We help one another."

"What can I do for you?" she asked and sipped from the beer.

"You can help me push the Norse creatures, Jörmungandr and Vali back. One is an enormous snake; the other is a wolf. But Vali will return to his godly form after Ragnarök."

"I thought Vali was the son of Odin?"

"No, this one is the son of Loki and Sigyn. And he's a wolf. Both sons named Vali kill their brother. Both survive the Ragnarök." Sekhmet narrowed her eyes. "I looked into this. The god named Thor will be killed by the snake."

"Thor..."

"Yes. The red-headed man with the manly beard and thirst for war."

"You sound fond of him."

"I like him for who he is. He is ... okay for a Scandinavian Viking war god." Sekhmet smiled inwardly. "You will help me stop Jörmungandr? If he devours Thor, it will bring the Celestial Realm one step closer to true Ragnarök."

Tamamo nodded. "The death of the gods."

"Yes."

"Then we should get started," Tamamo said.

Sekhmet nodded with a smile. "That is what good friends do. But first ... we drink."

---

Next Chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/837173