War and Famine: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 2)

by J. A. Cipriano

  Her story spilled out of her in a torrent of speech while he stood there glaring at her, his eyes full of suspicion. All things considered, it wasn’t the worst conversation she’d ever had, but it was close.

  Caden 02:03

  Caden was relatively surprised at how easy it was to acquire most of the “impossible” ingredients. One trip to a big box store and he had the beard of a woman, although asking for it had been a little awkward. She’d been nice enough about it, apparently guys asked to feel up her lumberjack hipster beard all the time. Even still, he’d had to part with several dollars before she’d let him pluck a few hairs from her chinny chin, chin.

  Now he was in a pet store two stores down from an exotic butcher where he had managed to procure a cooler full of frozen bear sinews of dubious origins. Caden was glad to have gotten out of there intact. There was something about a thin, skeletal butcher wearing a Sweeny Todd t-shirt beneath a blood-spattered apron that made him want to go home and hide beneath his blankets.

  Still, both of those items had, in the end, been considerably less horrible than what he was about to try now. Like an idiot, he was going to try to shove a cotton swab down the throat of a parrot with a beak big enough to bite off his thumb. Thankfully, it was the last ingredient on the list. You know, assuming the guy he’d met on the internet hadn’t sold him bogus mountain roots.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Caden asked, glancing up from the gray bird to look at the guy in his early twenties sitting next to the cash register with his feet on the counter next to it. He was holding the crisp hundred dollar bill up to the light as though he still didn’t think it was real even after marking it with one of those fancy pens. Caden got the feeling that if he’d given the guy gold, he’d have bitten it to test for softness.

  “Yeah,” the clerk responded, not even looking up from his hundred dollar bill. “Birds have salivary glands just like every other animal. The reason people don’t think they spit is because those glands are located around the base of the tongue, which is why their tongues are dry. Just run your swab along the little ridges at the back of Charlie’s tongue and the roof of his mouth. You’ll get some bird spit.”

  “You know a lot for a guy who just took a hundred bucks to let me stick a Q-tip in your parrot’s mouth,” Caden replied, looking back at Charlie the parrot. The bird glared at him.

  “What can I say, I like to study birds. Guess you could say I’m a closet Ornithologist.” The clerk chuckled to himself. “I’ll admit, I’m partially interested in seeing if you’ll manage it without getting your nose bitten off.”

  Caden grumbled to himself and opened the door to the black wire cage. The bird continued to glare at him.

  “Would you like an apple?” Caden asked, holding out an apple wedge with one hand while gripping his cotton swab tightly. He’d have to be quick, since he was relatively sure he’d only get one chance to jam the Q-tip down the creature’s throat. After that, all bets were off.

  The parrot took a hesitant step closer, shuffling forward on its beige perch until it was nearer to the door, and while Caden couldn’t be absolutely positive, he was sure the bird’s glare has softened to only mild disdain. Well, at least one of them was getting more comfortable.

  He still wasn’t quite sure why he’d gone off on this crazy goose chase. It wasn’t like he disbelieved Oski about its importance or anything. He’d seen more than enough to know there were strange things out there. After dealing with Jormungand, he believed Fenris was real. If Oski insisted the only way to stop the wolf was to release it with a bag full of female neckbeard and bird spit, Caden was sure it would work. The thing that kept nagging at him, kept him from fully committing to this quest was why it had to be him.

  Sure, part of him was glad to be needed, to actually be helpful for once, instead of being the odd man out in his group of friends. After all, Ian, Amy, Kim, and Malcom had turned out to be the four horsemen of the apocalypse, as insane as that sounded. What was he? Just a normal person. Even if Oski assured him he could do this, there was a very real possibility he would become wolf chow. After all, that was essentially what happened to Jesse, the only other normal person in their group. He had gotten himself killed by trying to stop Ian while Ian was possessed by Jormungand. And Fenris was supposed to possess a similar ability.

  So why again was he doing this? He wasn’t particularly brave or noble. He didn’t even really like people as much as he pretended to like people. He’d been relatively popular in high school, mostly because he was good at changing to suit his surroundings, navigating through the various groups like a chameleon. This was different. There would be no way to blend in with people who could call down thunder and make fire do their bidding. You either had the strength to stand against them or you got the hell out of their way.

  He was as good as dead. The knowledge of the absolute certainty of his inevitable doom was somehow comforting. At least he’d go out trying to help. He might be Batman in a world of Supermen, but people still wondered if Batman could take down Superman. Maybe, just for a little while, he could be Batman. You know, without the whole dead parents thing.

  Charlie, the gray parrot, opened his beak to snatch the apple slice, and as it did, Caden jabbed the cotton swab into its mouth. The bird squawked, wings flapping as it threw itself backward in its cage, the apple slice forgotten.

  Caden stared at the swab in his hand. It glimmered with faint golden light just like all the other items had done after he had acquired them. A smirk crossed his lips as he tossed the apple slice into the cage and shut the door. He shoved the swab into his backpack along with the other eight items. He shouldered his bag and turned back toward the clerk who was only half-watching him. He gave the guy a curt salute.

  “Thanks,” he said, heading out the door. It closed behind him with a jingle before the clerk could reply which was just as well. Caden had vaguely recognized the guy as someone who had been a senior when Caden had been a freshman, but he hadn’t known the guy well enough to remember his name. With any luck, he’d been equally forgettable. He wasn’t sure how he’d explain himself to anyone if word got around that he was collecting parrot spit. Then again, it was unlikely he would live through the rest of the day, so there was that.

  Oski sat on his motorcycle in the parking lot with a wicked gleam in his one eye. The other was still covered by an eyepatch with a drawing that sort of looked like a half empty cup on it. He hadn’t been there when Caden had entered the pet shop, but then again, Oski claimed to be a Norse god. If that was true, he could probably appear wherever he wanted.

  “I got the last one,” Caden said, deciding to play it cool despite not expecting the bible group leader to be sitting outside. He inwardly chastised himself once again. He should have expected it. Oski had been the one to send him on this ridiculous quest. If anyone would know he had gotten the last piece, it ought to be Oski.

  “I know,” Oski replied, humor lacing his words as he patted the seat of his bike. “I never had any doubt.”

  “Is that because you’re Odin, the All-Father who is wise beyond all measure?” Caden asked, having partially intended his words to be a question that could be played off as a joke.

  “Yes,” Oski replied as a silence so profound Caden could hear his own heart beating like a drum settled around them. “What gave it away?”

  “You gave me Gungnir. That’s Odin’s spear,” Caden replied because it was one of the most obvious clues he’d had. After all, the rest could have still been made up, but even if the spear wasn’t actually Gungnir, it sure seemed to have magical properties. Every single time he had reached into his backpack to touch the silver cylinder, power radiated up his arm, filling him with confidence and restoring his strength. Gripping the weapon was enough to clear his mind and erase his doubts.

  “Ah,” Oski said, a sly smile crossing his lips. “Well, as long as you know who I am, that makes things easier. I won’t have to hide everything from you.” He patted his bike, an
d it morphed into an eight-legged horse with hair the color of parchment paper. It stood over twenty hands tall and was fitted with well-oiled leather armor. Its nostrils were big enough to have fit an entire softball and still had room left over. “This is my steed, Sleipnir. Forget tall buildings, he is powerful enough to cross between all the nine worlds with but a single bound.” Oski held out one hand. “Take my hand, and we shall journey to Jotunheim, the land of the frost giants and release Fenris.”

  Before he could say, “Gee, isn’t it really cold there?” Caden found himself pulled onto the massive horse’s back. Above them, twin ravens the size of passenger jets flitted through the sky. Oski craned his head toward them as though listening to their cries, but Caden couldn’t hear anything at all.

  “We must hurry,” Oski said after a long moment. “My idiot son has taken a protector to Fenris. I will do my best to distract them while you unchain the wolf. You must bring the protector to our side.”

  “What do you mean?” Caden asked as fear rose up in his throat and threatened to suffocate him. Was Oski really saying one of his godly sons was going to be there to stop them? And what was worse, there was someone else? The thought made him shudder. Hopefully, whoever was there to stop would just listen to Oski and stand aside.

  Then again, maybe he was the crazy one. Sure, Odin was said to be wise even among gods, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be wrong. What if releasing the wolf was the absolute wrong thing to do?

  Instead of replying, Oski grabbed the reins of Sleipnir and hauled backward on them with his hand. The horse let out a whiney that resounded across the eerily silent parking lot of Pets N’ More before stomping its hooves on the asphalt. Lightning crackled across the sky as Oski held his free hand out in front of them. The air began to swirl between his splayed fingers like molten lava as Oski’s power burned a hole through reality itself. Gobs of glistening orange fluid dripped from the opening as it stretched wider and wider until it was big enough to drive a school bus through.

  The horse Sleipnir reared back, snorting loud enough to rattle the windows in the cars in the parking lot before charging forward. Its eight hooves tore up the asphalt like it was soft earth. They hit the rent in space and time in a flurry of motion that caused Caden’s vision to distill into a tiny point of white light.

  A moment later, they had emerged on the other side and cold unlike he’d ever felt before wormed into the core of his being and left ice in its wake. Snow covered the landscape for miles in every direction. Sheer cliffs jutted all around them, giving Caden the feeling they were at the bottom of an icy Grand Canyon. He shivered, his teeth chattering so hard it hurt as Sleipnir turned in a quick circle like an immense cat. Its hooves trampled the snow as a ginormous rock filled Caden’s frame of view.

  Golden thread was lashed not only around the stone but through it as well. A creature was bound to it so tightly it looked like it had been the victim of a giant spider attack. The thing within squirmed and judging by how the ground beneath it had been worn away, Caden was sure it had been at it a long time.

  Still, that wasn’t the worst thing he saw. The worst part was the huge Viking standing directly in front of them. He was large enough to make Oski look small and had a curved metal axe in one hand. His skin was covered in furs hewn from dozens of different beasts. Between the man’s massive beard and the worn iron helmet painted with blood red symbols Caden couldn’t decipher, his face was nearly hidden from view.

  “Hello, father. I wondered if you would come here yourself. Anxious to claim your destiny?” The man’s lips curled into a cruel smile as he smacked the haft of the axe against one meaty palm. “You of all people should know better than to tempt fate.”

  “Hello, son,” Oski said, slipping off Sleipnir and dropping into snow deep enough for him to sink up to mid-thigh. He strode forward, and as he did so, his motorcycle leathers morphed, changing into an outfit remarkably similar to his son’s own. “I know you mean well, but it is time for the wolf to be unfettered.” Oski chuckled, and the sound reminded Caden of cawing ravens. “Besides, you are a long time from being able to take me on in a fight.”

  “Yeah, that’s why I brought him along.” Oski’s son stepped to the side to reveal Ian standing there in jeans and a thin white t-shirt. Evidently, the cold wasn’t a concern to him, but then again, why would it be? Ian’s mantle, Famine, gave him power over ice and snow.

  Ian’s mouth dropped open as they made eye contact. “Caden? Why are you here?” Ian asked, the shock evident in his voice.

  “To help Odin release Fenris. Let me guess, you’re here to stop us from letting the wolf loose?” Caden replied, reaching back into his backpack and gripping Gungnir. Heat and power surged through him, chasing away the chill that had clung to his body. He knew he couldn’t beat Ian in a fight, at least not since Ian had gained the mantle of Famine. He especially could not defeat Ian within the frozen wasteland of Jotunheim where Ian’s power would be immeasurable. Still, Gungnir was said to never miss. If he managed to throw it, maybe the spear could take down Ian all on its own. Still, could he really attack his friend? Surely there had to be another way. Yes, there had to be another way. He wouldn’t kill his friend, not for any reason.

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be trying to stop Fenris from escaping and touching off Ragnarok?” Ian’s eyes narrowed as he watched Caden pull the tube free. “Turns out, I’m quite fond of the sun and the moon. Who knew?”

  All in all, it was an excellent point. Anyone looking on from the outside would reach the conclusion that Caden was doing the wrong thing. But Odin was guiding his hand, even though he would die the moment the wolf was released. The god must have a plan, but Caden wasn’t about to fight his friend over it.

  “That’s Odin. He’s the smartest god I know.” Caden grinned sheepishly. “Admittedly, he’s the only god I know, but that doesn’t make him wrong. He says we need to defeat the wolf before he uses his mind control to pick you all off one by one.” Caden shrugged exaggeratedly. “Why don’t you ask him what his plan is because I’m sure it will work. You know, unless you’re too scared to take Fenris on yourself?”

  “I’m not scared of the big, bad wolf,” Ian replied, half-turning to look at the writhing form of the bound wolf. “Not even in Virginia.”

  “You should be,” Oski said, gesturing at his son. “Even now, Fenris’s influence is upon my son. His mind has been twisted. You cannot trust what he has told you. It could all be lies. It is why he has brought you here. He has set you up to stop us from killing Fenris. He is using you.”

  “Is that true?” Ian asked, turning to look at the Viking next to him as confusion melted across the big man’s face.

  Before anyone could respond, a howl exploded across the horizon, so loud and blood curdling that Caden’s ears popped, leaving him partially deaf. His backpack exploded, spilling its contents into the air in a great swirling mass that swept toward the bound wolf in a flurry of moonlight.

  Amy 02:03

  Amy was relatively sure Ian wasn’t in Sabastin’s base anymore, and what was worse, she got the feeling he wasn’t coming back. It wasn’t just because she couldn’t taste his power in the air anymore. It was the ache in the pit of her stomach. She’d been standing next to Sabastin when a sudden, profound sense of separation filled her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. It felt like Ian had vanished off the face of the planet, which was weird since they were standing in a floating city miles above the earth’s surface, but there it was.

  “What’s happened?” Sabastin asked. He stood in front of her, one hand clasped around the sheath of Haijiku. Apparently it hadn’t been very hard for him to find the weapon, since he’d been holding it when she’d come into the room to find him. So he’d been delaying on purpose. She should have known.

  “Ian’s gone. At least, I’m pretty sure he’s gone.” Amy shook her head. “I can’t feel him here, anymore. Even when I reach out with my mantle, it can’t find him at all.”

&n
bsp; “I didn’t think he’d leave without Haijiku.” Sabastin bit his lip, chewing on it as he dropped his gaze to the black katana in his hand. “Maybe he took Atropos’s words to heart. Maybe that’s why he left it here? If that’s the case…”

  “Then he’s gone after Fenris himself,” Amy finished, and as she said the words, the certainty of them settled over her. That was exactly what Ian had done. It didn’t really make sense that he would leave on his own. Sure, he’d wanted to go and do something. She could even see him abandoning Haijiku, but it really seemed like he had wanted her with him. Surely, there was a reason for him leaving without her? There had damn well better be. If not, she would kill him herself.

  “Let me scan to see. Maybe your powers are just on the fritz?” Sabastin offered although his face didn’t contain much hope. Without waiting for her response, he stepped past her through the doorway, one hand still wrapped around Haijiku’s sheath.

  “What are you going to look for?” Amy asked, following behind him like a lost puppy. It wasn’t like she had a whole lot of other options. What was she going to do? try to find him by herself? Where would she even look? It wasn’t like she had a bus pass to Jotunheim or anything.

  “To see if Ian is still here, for one. If he has gone and has truly journeyed to Jotunheim to deal with Fenris, there ought to be something on the cameras. We can at least find out how he managed it since I don’t think he has the ability to transport himself across the nine worlds by himself. He would need help from one of the Aesir to do that.”

  “The Aesir?” Amy asked as they stepped back into the control room. The emptiness of it threatened to overwhelm her. Even though she couldn’t feel Ian anywhere, she still kept expecting him to walk back through the door, throw a silly smile ask her, and ask if she was ready to go. The startling absence of him was like a festering lump in the pit of her stomach.