by J. M. Barlog
“Not to get caught up in what?” Kratos repeated, more angry than sad that she had failed to deliver her vital knowledge.
For many silent moments, they stared into the void that was once the witch. “She’s gone,” Atreus said.
Was she gone forever? Would they be reunited when they returned to the other realm? Atreus refused to accept that he had lost her. Why was every woman he cared about suddenly being taken away? What had they done that made the gods so angry and vindictive toward them?
“She’s not dead, is she? Is she dead?” Atreus heard himself say. He couldn’t believe he was even saying the words. “Her magic will save her, right? Tell me her magic is powerful enough to save her!” Atreus searched his father’s face for reassurance that he had not lost her.
“I do not know. Come, we must go on.” Kratos turned.
Atreus refused to move, rooted where he stood for a long, torturous moment. How could his father not care about her? He had turned his back on her as if she no longer mattered.
His father had progressed a dozen paces before Atreus convinced himself he had to put her out of his mind. They had something important to accomplish at this moment. He broke into a jog to get alongside his father.
Kratos refused to look at him, or even acknowledge his presence.
“Look at this place,” Atreus said, mesmerized by the sheer size of their new surroundings.
“Stay beside me. Touch nothing.”
They traversed another long bridge toward the light, Kratos keen to observe everything in their path, seeking to uncover any signs of danger. This place was foreign to him. He knew not what to expect. But what were they to be careful of? He examined that thought from every possible angle with each determined stride. Something was lurking out there, and there was little chance they could avoid it.
“She’s probably not coming back, is she?” Atreus asked, hopeful that he was wrong. Kratos said nothing, remained watchful along the length of the bridge.
“The witch said to go for the giant light shaft out there,” Atreus offered.
“It is where we are going,” Kratos snapped back, shooting a glare meant to silence him.
As they continued along the bridge, they glimpsed something of indistinct shape in the distance, blocking their path. Kratos slowed to assess the new potential threat; Atreus slowed in kind, to remain beside his father.
“What do you think that is?” Atreus said.
For the first time, Kratos gazed down at him, but he said nothing.
As they came closer, they could discern bloody snake-like tendrils the color of human flesh, curling one over another to form a crude ball-like mass. Was it something alive?
“There’s something glowing inside that thing,” Atreus said.
“Remain right beside me,” Kratos warned, instinctively throwing a hand out to keep Atreus in check.
“I will. What do you think that is?” Atreus said, enduring an uneasy shudder rumbling through him at what they approached.
Would it attack? Could it attack?
Kratos readied his axe.
The thing reacted to the movement as if it could see it. Somehow it sensed his movement. When he chopped lightly at it, it repelled his blade.
“We leave it be, as long as it does not oppose us.”
They skirted the mass, careful to keep their feet from touching it. Could that have been what the witch sought to warn them about?
Another hundred paces ahead, off to their left flank, a glowing light snared their attention. “Look, I think that is a Light Elf on that ridge!” Atreus pointed out. His father had already caught sight of it.
Further along they discovered another Light Elf, but this one stood on the bridge, illuminating the area below like a lamppost. Before they could reach it, a blurry streak shot down from the sky, colliding with the creature, knocking it from the bridge to plummet into the darkness of the caldera crater.
“Whoa, what was that about?” Atreus whispered to himself.
“Not our concern, boy. Focus,” Kratos said.
They continued across the bridge, now more cautious of their surroundings.
“Did you say something?” Atreus asked, trying to take in everything around them.
“No,” Kratos replied, raising a brow at the untimely inquiry.
They spied another Light Elf perched atop a rock ridge fifty paces distant, wearing a white robe. It stood no taller than Atreus, with straw-colored hair, cherub face, and armed with a glowing spear. A brilliant white aura bathed light over him. It seemed to be a sentry near the realm tower. Moments later, a Dark Elf, clad in black leather armor, with bat-like wings and piercing dark pupils, dove in from high in the sky to stab the Light Elf, retreating with it in its clutches to gain altitude before releasing the struggling body to plummet back to the ground.
“They are killing the Light Elves,” Atreus said.
“It is a war, no doubt, between them—or the end of one. The robed ones lost,” Kratos said, as if to dismiss what they had witnessed as none of their concern. They had no desire to become involved with any existing conflicts in the realm, only to get the light they needed and return home.
“Oh,” Atreus replied, also trying to dismiss what he had seen.
A group of Dark Elves descended in a tight defensive formation to hover over Kratos as they moved.
“Be ready,” Kratos cautioned.
The Dark Elves banked hard right, as if maneuvering for a full-frontal assault. The first three broke formation, with blades ready as they swooped in. Kratos deflected the attack quickly with his axe. The others remained a safe distance from the exchange, assessing their new enemy before attacking.
Atreus had sufficient time to nock an arrow and launch it at the furthest of the attacking elves. The shaft sailed wide, forcing Atreus to switch to his hunting knife to fight off the Dark Elf that dove at his chest.
“Why are they attacking us? We did nothing to provoke them!” Atreus screamed. He hit the ground to avoid the slashing blade and came back up, but he was too slow to mount an effective counterattack.
“Be ready. More will come!” Kratos barked.
The remaining Dark Elves ascended into the sky, disappearing through thick dark storm clouds.
“I suspect they sacrificed their brethren sizing us up. We must be on our guard. They will return with greater force the next time,” Kratos warned. After scanning the sky in all directions, he deemed it safe to continue. After passing under the realm travel tower, Atreus spotted another dead Light Elf.
“Another one.” Sadness lined his voice. “At least we are getting closer to the light.”
They progressed onto a sandy beach, spotting an old boat covered with tendrils like those they had encountered on the bridge. Working together, they untangled the tendrils without harming them to release the boat, and Kratos carried it to the shore to set it into the water. The water was yet another obstacle standing between them and the light.
“Did your mother ever speak of this realm?” Kratos thought to ask, as he began rowing.
“Not much. She just said that since the elves were always fighting over the Light of Alfheim, it kept them isolated from everyone else.”
The boat soon entered a tunnel under a low, overhanging rock formation.
“Huh?” Atreus said, staring up at his father. He then realized his father had not spoken. “Weird. I could have sworn you just said something.”
“I said nothing.”
As the boat drifted lazily into a cave, quiet returned.
In the next moment, Atreus doubled over in his seat, clutching his head at the temples, screeching from the intense pain.
“What is wrong, boy?” Kratos asked, an unwanted edge of irritation binding his words together.
“Voices. You do not hear them?” Atreus forced out while wincing in pain.
“I hear nothing,” Kratos said. Panic took over. He had no inkling of how to deal with his son’s plight. He heard nothing.
; Atreus struggled to steady himself in the boat. “They are fading now.” He rose. “They were screaming. Many different voices. Angry voices. You really did not hear them?”
“No.” Kratos remained concerned. This was never part of his illness before. He had never had to deal with anything like this in the past. He sought words that might comfort Atreus, but he realized there was nothing he could say.
“It felt… evil.”
Then Atreus spotted two more Light Elves positioned strategically along a ridge, gazing down at them blankly.
“Look. Should we try to talk to them?”
“No.”
The elves receded out of sight after a few moments.
“Maybe they need our help. We can help them. You have seen what those Dark Elves do.”
“They do not impede us, so they do not concern us.”
“But—”
“They do not concern us!”
“But what if we need their help?”
Kratos withheld his response.
Meandering around a bend, they floated out of the river canyon and onto a sprawling, calm lake with shimmering greenish-blue water.
“War has made a beautiful land ugly,” Atreus said.
“War is only about survival and advantage. Battles may be won by the better soldier, but wars are won by sacrificing all for victory.”
In the distance the ringed temple rose, surrounding an intense column of light projecting into the sky, while silhouettes of a few Dark Elves circled the shaft.
“Look at that temple. Is that where we need to go?”
Approaching the Temple of Light, they spied a mystical bridge composed entirely of pure white light leading to a blue temple door.
“That must be the entrance,” Atreus said.
Not far from their location, a swarm of Dark Elves flooded the underside of the bridge, completely covering a light crystal located there. “What are they doing?” Atreus asked.
By the time he finished his question, the bridge had disappeared.
“The bridge is gone. They covered that crystal with that stuff. Why?”
“To prevent reinforcements,” Kratos said, all the while assessing the ramifications of what they had just witnessed.
Discovering their presence, a trio of Dark Elves launched skyward to attack. Kratos readied his axe, and this time Atreus had sufficient time to nock an arrow and launch it true to take out the lead elf. As the dying creature fluttered into the water, Kratos hacked the other two down before they could become a threat.
“What is their problem with us?” Atreus asked, frustrated at being forced into a fight at every turn. He wished for some way to convey to these creatures that they posed no threat to them; they need not die needlessly.
“We are intruders upon their domain. We do not belong here. They may think we are aligned with the Light Elves,” Kratos reasoned out loud.
As they continued, a dark shadow descended over them. As Kratos cast his gaze up, a horned Dark Elf swooped down, fixed on him. Kratos readied his weapon, yanking his son behind him to keep the creature from reaching him.
“Look at the horns. This one is different from the others,” Atreus said.
Hovering at a safe distance, the Dark Elf issued a deafening, grating screech, while at ground level a swarm of Dark Elves flew in from all directions, brandishing knives and swords. As they attacked, Kratos worked his axe, slashing, hacking and lopping off elf heads until those that remained chose to flee. Kratos gazed up; the horned Dark Elf also disappeared.
“They are not going to give up, are they?” Atreus asked.
When Kratos advanced, the horned Dark Elf dove out of nowhere to latch onto Atreus.
“No! Father!” he yelled, swiping wildly at the creature in the hope of fighting his way free.
“Atreus!” Kratos screamed, lunging to get hold of his son’s leg before the Dark Elf lifted him out of range.
With one hand outstretched and the other clutching his axe, Kratos was out of position when two Dark Elves surged to grab him. While one wrenched his neck, the other stabbed at him with a glowing spear. Kratos fended off the spear attack, but he failed to throw off the Dark Elf clutching his neck. He also lost his opportunity to grab hold of his son.
“Get off him,” Atreus yelled, when he witnessed his father’s struggle. “We didn’t do anything. Let me go!”
In a fit of rage, Kratos flung his attackers off, positioned his axe and heaved it at the horned Dark Elf. The blade clipped the elf’s wing, forcing him and the boy to spiral downward into the ground. The Dark Elf retrieved the axe before Kratos could recall it.
“Father, hurry!” Atreus cried out, fighting off a pair of Dark Elves that charged him from the shadows. “Get away from me!” he screamed in rage, slashing his hunting knife to keep them temporarily at bay. “What do you want with us?”
The Dark Elves circled, cautious of their moves, but relentless in their attack. Atreus had no idea how he was going to stay alive. The fear fueling his rage kept him from succumbing to the terror.
“Stay back!”
The horned Dark Elf dropped from above, still clutching the Leviathan axe. Kratos charged, tackling him and slamming the Dark Elf to the ground.
Reclaiming his weapon, Kratos regained his feet for a mighty swing, but the horned Dark Elf rolled away, launching into the air to flutter out of range. Atreus dashed to his father’s side as Kratos prepared to fight four Dark Elves rallying to charge. Back to back, Kratos rived the lead attackers, while Atreus stabbed another, with the remaining two retreating to higher ground. Within seconds, they disappeared. Kratos and Atreus stepped carefully around the dead and dying.
Picking their way through dense, prickly foliage, they at last reached the temple, and finding the door secured and impenetrable, they moved to the side, where they discovered a gap in the crumbling walls wide enough to crawl through. They wandered the dilapidated space, traversing what had once been great vaulted golden halls that had deteriorated into a wilderness of overgrown vines and thorny broad-leafed weeds. Shattered columns littered the expanse.
“This place is great,” Atreus whispered. His face wide with amazement, he drifted from his father to explore the broken-down temple.
Could this have been the scene of a great battle?
“I bet it was beautiful here, before the Dark Elves destroyed everything,” Atreus mumbled. He knew his father would probably care little for the history surrounding them.
Continuing, they spied a Light Elf running across a light bridge high in the temple.
“There. Another Light Elf. What is he doing?” Atreus said.
A Dark Elf emerged from a sprawling hive above to descend upon the Light Elf. Then, two more Dark Elves spiraled down. They pounced, all stabbing him in a frenzy.
“Why are they killing him? He didn’t do anything,” Atreus said.
“You do not know that. We know nothing of this realm. You have no way of understanding what led to this moment.”
“But he did not even defend himself.”
Kratos stopped, turning a stern face to his son. “That was his choice. We make ours.”
“Maybe the Light Elves were the ones speaking inside my head, asking us to help them.”
“You do not know that for sure. What if the voices were from the others?”
The attackers turned to Kratos and Atreus once the Light Elf lay lifeless at their feet.
“They will find us not so foolish,” Kratos muttered. He prepared for their onslaught, which came moments later. In a flurry of swinging iron, dead Dark Elves littered the ground around them.
“What now?” Atreus asked.
“The light is near. We find a way to reach it.”
As he spoke, many light bridges formed around the interior of the light temple. They splayed out like a grand maze, making it near impossible to determine which would be the correct course to follow.
Using trial and error they attempted to navigate the light bridges, progress
ing slowly and inefficiently from one to another, until they began to detect what was indeed a pattern that might lead them to the light. Enduring multiple missteps and retracements, they finally came to a forbidding hive that, in a puzzle-like patchwork, covered the coveted Light of Alfheim.
“I do not think we should be in here,” Atreus uttered, his fear starting to choke off his breathing.
“Quiet. Here is where we must be in order to get the light for the Bifröst,” Kratos scolded, barely above a whisper.
“But how?”
“We destroy the hive.”
As they worked their way inward, the clamor of insects skittering rose above them.
“You hear that?” Atreus whispered, his voice shaky.
“Remain alert and at my side.”
Reaching the end of a corridor, they began a torturously slow climb up the side of the hive, with Kratos studying it with every move. When they reached the midpoint of their climb, a Dark Elf emerged from hiding, striking out at them.
“No!” Atreus said.
Kratos seized the flailing Dark Elf’s throat to hold it at bay.
“Boy, your knife!” he said, struggling to keep the creature restrained.
Atreus buried his blade into the elf’s forehead. The creature immediately fell limp in Kratos’ hand.
Shoving the carcass back into its hiding place, they continued up.
Reaching the hive summit, they squirmed down a tight, confining pathway toward the Light of Alfheim.
“Remain close.”
Atreus gagged in disgust when they brushed against a tight cluster of fleshy webbing while attempting to squeeze past it.
Crawling through another small, sticky passage, they made their way toward what they hoped was an entrance to the main light chamber. Ahead, the passageway widened, but before they could get close, another Dark Elf crawled out to attack.
Atreus screamed.
Kratos seized the elf’s arm, bashing its head repeatedly into the webbed floor. Although doing so killed the Dark Elf, it also caused the ground to collapse beneath them.
They tumbled out of control into the center of the hive, skidding to a stop only to discover hundreds of Dark Elves swarming the ceiling, feeding on the mystical light.
