by Mur Lafferty
Kate stared at the prim woman sitting in front of her, knowing she was made up of millions of flies in reality. “No offense, Kazuko, but I'm not too keen on dying, being devoured by maggots and being reborn as a fly god.”
Kazuko laughed, something Kate still wasn't used to hearing. “That is not your story, Kate. That was mine. You will have your own reawakening. Although many of our myths are parallel, we all have our own unique details.” She put her hand on Kate’s, still wrapped around the mug. “You will find your focus. You will find your perspective. Creation, birth, is one of the largest things that will ever happen to you. One does not simply wake up the next day and go on about her business. Ask any mother. Earth changes everything. The bards are already writing myths about you, Kate, but you need to wake up so that they can write more.”
“Hey, not that I'm not glad to see you, but why did we have to come here? Why didn't the part of you in my head say something?”
Kazuko smiled and stood, indicating the audience was over. “Perspective. You had to go on a quest, even if just a small one.”
Kate also got to her feet, still moving slowly. “I slept through most of that quest. Didn't seem to make much difference.”
Kazuko’s smile turned sad. “I did not say your quest was over.”
At that moment, Kate remembered why they didn't want to come to hell. The roar shook the candles from their holders and Kazuko waved her hand, putting out the fire. In the pitch black, Kate froze, her numb mind refusing to react.
“One last bit of help, then,” Kazuko whispered, and the sound of buzzing filled Kate’s ears. She fainted.
Kate blinked. Kazuko had carried her to the outside of the cave in the whirlwind of her flies. The millions of little legs set her down carefully and with a loud buzz she was gone. Daniel and Skuld stood with their backs to her, swords raised. Skuld looked like a woman who had casually survived Ragnarök, but Daniel’s eye was wide and his katana trembled a bit. Although he too had survived Ragnarök, Kate couldn’t blame him. The thing that had been chasing them, the thing that they’d been safe from unless they ventured back into hell, had finally caught up with them. It loomed on four twisted hooves above them, at least thirty feet tall, looking like a cross between a lion and a dog, with matted and patchy black fur and four yellow eyes peering from its face. Teeth stuck out of its mouth at all angles, and several of them had hapless bodies stuckbetween them as if the creature had just eaten and hadn't flossed.
Kate walked up to Skuld and Daniel, wincing as the creature roared again and whipped its three tails back and forth. Blood dripped from its teeth. “Is this your bogey?” Kate asked. Her brain felt as if it were clouded by fog.
Daniel didn’t look at her, but focused his eye on the monster. “It’s a demon sent by Mephistopheles, one of the big lords in hell.”
Kate cocked her head and looked up at the demon. “What you want?” she called. The demon raised its head to the sky and roared again.
“Don't bother talking to it, girl. We need to either stay and fight, or run, and we have to decide now,” Skuld said.
“And it’s pretty obvious what Mephistopheles wants,” Daniel said. “He wants hell.”
“Give it to him.”
Daniel and Skuld stared at her. “I’m glad this visit has cleared your mind,” he snapped.
“No, seriously. You've done nothing but complain since you got this job. You don't want it. He does. He clearly scares you. You don’t want to fight him. You’ve been running since the beginning. Leave hell, give him the key, and I can find something for you to do in heaven. You'll be safe, you won't have to worry about responsibility, and you can stop running.”
Daniel’s jaw dropped, and Kate wondered if he were actually considering it. “Kate, I — I’m a god.”
Kate reached behind her and pulled out her white sword. “Then act like it.”
Daniel stared at her, his eye unblinking for a moment, and then he nodded.
“Ware!” shouted Skuld, and Daniel and Kate jumped aside as a great hoof came crashing down where they were. They scattered as the demon’s head darted down to bite at them. Its jaws closed on Skuld’s shield and it was thrown back, stumbling.
“Still got all those godlike powers? Kate asked, as the demon shook its head and roared again, broken teeth splitting with the power of its rage.
“I think so,” Daniel said. “What do you have in mind?”
"Kagutsuchi. We’re in Japan. It's only fitting that we invoke the fire god.” She concentrated briefly and burst into flame, becoming a pillar of fire. She held out her left hand and a shield of flames formed around it. Her white sword remained untouched, its power not affected by her will. Daniel paused for a moment, giving Kate enough time to run at the creature before he called out. She willed a blast of heat to flare from her shield, straight for the creature’s abdomen, when Daniel finally yelled at her.
“Dammit Kate, that won’t work. He’s from hell!” Daniel’s timing was good as the fire bounced off the demon’s thick fur and it swiped a hoof at Kate. She tapped into Hermes’s speed and easily ran out of the way, angling toward one of the standing legs and slicing her sword through the hamstring. Blood spurted and the demon howled again. Kate dashed out of the way and in an instant had hamstrung the other three feet. Its legs buckled and it toppled, making ground shake.
Kate came to a stop beside Daniel, who still held his katana uncertainly. The demon had fallen, thrashing in pain, with its head near Skuld. The Valkyrie took advantage of its proximity. She was on it in an instant, sticking her sword in its eye. It howled and shuddered, but the warrior pushed her sword deeper until it ceased its movement and died.
Daniel panted and looked at the massive corpse. “How are we going to get the hang of this god stuff?”
“I think we have to. This doesn't stop here. This was just a test,” Kate said. “We have to figure out how to get control, and stop running, and stop getting sidetracked.”
Skuld pulled her sword from the demon’s eye and wiped off the gore. She jumped down from its head and looked grim. “I want to know how it found us,” she said. “Izanami’s protection should've kept us hidden. My protection should've kept us hidden.”
Daniel shrugged. “He’s been pretty much tuned to us any time we’ve been out of heaven.”
Skuld frowned. “That was fast thinking, girl. Are you back with us now?”
Kate thought for a moment what Izanami had said about perspective, and slowly nodded. “I think so.”
Kate cleaned her sword — the towel smoked when smeared with demon blood — and put it away. The three of them mounted up and walked slowly away from the demon, and didn't look around as the swarm that was Izanami came out to feed.
“Why didn’t she help us? Daniel asked. “During the battle, I mean.”
Kate shrugged and rested her head on his back again. “I guess it was for us to do alone. And she did help, honestly.”
“What did you two talk about, anyway?”
Kate thought about their conversation and finally smiled, closing her eyes. “Girl talk.”
Daniel snorted but he didn't ask anything else. Kate was eager to get back to heaven and see how the Earth was faring, and that eagerness sparked the first flame of clear thought again. The demons wanted the Earth. Sure, they would like Daniel’s control of hell, but mostly they wanted Earth. She lifted her head from Daniel's back and turned to look behind them. They’d exited Izanami’s realm and were back on the main road to heaven. The horizon behind them, normally perpetually blue and sunny, had darkened with a red hue.
Kate reached out with her perception and felt the massing of thousands of bodies: gnarled, angry, burning bodies that had no right being in heaven. Kate made a choked noise, and Daniel and Skuld turned as well. They were silent and Kate realized they were looking at her. Heaven was her realm. She was in charge of its well-being, its administration, and its defense. The horizon darkened further. Kate reached into her backpack and took out a
white dove, frowned at it, and then took out a hummingbird. She whispered to the small bird in her palm and sent it straight ahead toward heaven.
“We need to get back, prepare defenses. We've got to protect the Earth.”
Skuld and Daniel spurred their horses into gallops and Kate hung on. “Why can’t we just teleport?” she murmured to herself.
“The quest,” came Izanami’s voice in her mind. “The quest is as important as the battle.”
“Rules. Right.”
With the demons of hell behind them, the three sped for the gates of heaven, where forces already began to assemble and prepare for a siege.
CHAPTER SIX
It was supposed to be easier than this, Daniel thought as he paced Kate's study. He tried to ignore Odin as the god whispered to him. He and Kate shared the same advisors, they had the same goals, and still they argued. Skuld stood impassively by the fireplace and Kate sat cross-legged in a leather chair. They were discussing strategies.
"Can you get the Valkyries and get back here in time?" Kate asked.
Skuld frowned. "I don't know, honestly. The army was moving quickly. If we don't get back in time, we'll still have an advantage as we'll be flanking them."
Kate nodded once. "All right. Thank you. I'll be grateful for any aid."
Daniel stopped pacing. "I still say I should try to talk to them. Shouldn't they listen to me?"
"We need forces. Can you bring us more soldiers? Check the other heavens?" Kate asked.
"I might get better response from hell," he said.
Kate snorted. "I think your forces from hell are already on their way, Daniel. And I don't think you should give demons and damned souls free passage through heaven. Who knows what would happen in that case."
Daniel became very still, and embarrassed. "What would happen if a damned soul had free passage?"
Kate rubbed her forehead. "I don't know, Daniel. Is that really important? I'm just thinking it might be a bad idea to give the keys to the jail to the prisoners."
Daniel's insides were very cold. There was no way to get out of this.
"Kate."
She looked up, her face white. "Oh, Daniel, what did you do?"
He forced himself to meet her eyes. It had been easier to decapitate his mother. "Kevin, my assistant, has a Traveler's necklace."
"How did he get that?"
The admission was hard enough. There was no way Daniel was going to say "coffee."
"I ... I needed him to run an errand for me as I remained in hell."
"And you didn't get it back from him."
"We were being chased, and ..." Daniel stopped, knowing he had no defense. Kate rose from her chair and left the room, not slamming the door, but leaving it open. Daniel took the invitation and followed her, ending up in the room where the Earth still turned.
The impossibility of that room still made Daniel's mind reel. He now had no idea if the Earth was big enough yet, because its size was incomprehensible. He assumed that it wasn't done growing, as Kate still kept it in the room.
She stood in front of it, watching as the main landmass came around into the light. Kate's light. She glowed in the presence of the Earth, illuminating it — their sun goddess. She did not look at Daniel. When she spoke, her voice was calm.
"You're not evil. You're not an asshole. You made a mistake." As she spoke the seas on the Earth began to swirl faster, ocean currents and clouds forming. Tiny flickers of lightning appeared in the clouds. "But it was a big one. Huge. I am not even sure we have a word for how big this is. I'm not angry, Daniel." The mountain range in the eastern half of the continent shifted slightly. "But it's a big enough mistake that I don't know what to do to fix it."
Daniel watched the Earth uneasily. Some of the mountains exploded then, spewing lava.
"Uh … well, we do what we planned. Skuld's getting reinforcements, your angels are watching the gates, souls are safe in their houses.”
Kate clenched her fist once, and Daniel gasped, as a fault line appeared in the western half, streaking diagonally southeast.
"No. I meant what to do about you. I don't know if I can have you around if you're going to fuck up like this again. Too much is at stake."
Daniel expected to feel hurt. To feel angry. But he was too much in awe of watching Kate calmly channel her rage at the Earth, splitting the continents. The fault line lengthened in both directions until, with a crack, it split in two.
It should have taken tens, or hundreds, of thousands of years for the Earth to go through the changes it suffered in a span of minutes. The sea boiled with the heat that the moving landmasses created, and the steam and releasing gases began obscuring the landmasses. Daniel slowly backed up as Kate still watched the turmoil on the Earth. Kate hung her head.
"Just go."
Daniel turned, and ran.
Kate's headquarters had morphed gradually during her stay in heaven into an old castle, complete with towers and ramparts. The wrought-iron walls that surrounded heaven were even now replacing themselves with heavy stone. Kate's divine will, Daniel realized. He ran to the top of the outer rampart even as she completed it from the inside of the castle. He had no plan, but needed to assess the situation before acting. Because he clearly hadn't done anything like that up to now.
He sagged against the wall as angels flew to join him, staring grimly out toward the horizon. How did he become such a fuckup?
"Why are you not helping me?" he asked aloud.
You are not asking the right questions, Odin said.
"No, no, old man, I don't trust you. Anyone else? Hermes, how could you let me do that to Kate?"
Would you have listened if I'd warned you against it? came the wry answer.
"Anubis? Horus?"
The dry death god's voice was soft. Are you accusing us, or asking for help?
"I need help. I want help. Why can't you stop me from doing something stupid?"
That is not our job, Izanami said. We are not your parents.
"Okay, so what do I do now?"
Odin's voice was stronger in his head, providing him with battle plans, strategies and routes for escape. But, it concluded, if you want to avoid all of that you can leave now.
"Abandon Kate?
No. Do as Skuld is doing. Get reinforcements.
"Who should I get? Who can help? Who would help me at this point?"
Odin spoke again, softer this time, as if he were growing tired. You had three questions recently: how to bring back the Earth, what was chasing you and why, and the third question.
Third question. Daniel closed his eye and tried to remember. Calm infused his mind as the realization washed over him. "Oh ... right."
A small tug came on his robe. He opened his eye and looked around. Ganymede stood beside him, blonde curls looking drab now that heaven’s sky was darkened.
"The Goddess has a message for you."
Daniel didn't dare hope, and realizing that he didn't dare hope, also realized that hope was all he had in the terms of Kate.
"Yes?"
"Leave now before the army gets here. She neither wants you injured, nor wants you here during the siege. She said to give you this, but not to read it until you have cleared the battlefield."
He handed Daniel a cream-colored envelope. Daniel nodded once, and peered out over the field one last time as he tucked the note into his robe.
The horizon was nearly pitch-black, and Daniel wondered if the demons brought the borders of hell with them as they trespassed. He remembered the metaphor of him not being evil, just being the bouncer at the club. He was a pretty shitty bouncer at this point. Neither was he evil, just damned near inept. The dark shapes of the demons had appeared to the naked eye now. Daniel reached into his own backpack and willed for binoculars, and was honestly surprised when they appeared in his hand. He peered at the edge, and gritted his teeth at what he saw.
Kevin, his nervous assistant — the poor-watery eyed guy whom Daniel had pitied — led the hordes
of demons that ran, slithered, and flew. He didn't look like Kevin, however. His skin had turned considerably darker and his hands and feet were cloven. Horns jutted from his forehead, and he grinned with sharp teeth, riding a huge beetle with a horned carapace.
In fact, Daniel may not have recognized him at all except for his eyes, which remained slightly bulbous, and the fact that Daniel's Traveler's necklace hung shining around his neck. Daniel's insides twisted in shame again. He handed the binoculars to the angel beside him and asked, "Do you recognize the guy in the lead?"
The angel looked once through the binoculars, and then put them down.
"That is the Demon Lord, Mephistopheles."
Daniel nodded numbly. "Why couldn't I see that? You said I could tell if he were lying."
If he was nervous or upset at being wrong, Odin showed no sign of shame. You would be able to tell if a damned soul were lying. Demon Lords have much stronger tricks at their disposal. Not only did he trick you, but he tricked all the angels in heaven. Although, he added dryly, giving him that necklace certainly helped.
Daniel watched, stunned, as the hell that he had created edged closer to Kate's heaven.
"Sir, there isn't much time if you plan on getting away without fighting," Ganymede said nervously, which made Daniel feel somewhat better. Kate must not hate him entirely if she were still concerned with his well-being.
They were closing fast. It seemed that the demons moved faster now that they could be seen. Daniel began to panic. Skuld had taken the horses. Mephistopheles had cut off the road. How was he to get free?
I can help, whispered the usually silent Horus. You are a god, after all. Act like one.
Daniel gasped as power surged through his arms and legs. He went rigid as the marrow leaked from his bones, making them hollow, and pinpricks inflamed his skin as feathers sprouted. His skull elongated to form a beak, and his center of gravity moved forward. His clothes and boots and backpack folded into his body and he hopped up on the edge of the ramparts: a huge golden eagle. He spread his wings, trying to forget his fear of heights, and took off, allowing Horus's instincts to take over.
