Odin had fought many foes in his long life, many of them
great beasts. He had faced eagles that size of jumbo jets and sea serpents that
could have swallowed the Titanic whole. By his own hand he had slaughtered
peryton, winged reindeer with razor sharp teeth and a taste for human flesh,
and brought to heel wolves and bears that made all others tremble and flee at
the sight of them. So even while Puck trembled at the sight of the five massive
dragons and the two slightly smaller beasts Odin merely stepped forward, his
fur-lined cloak billowing behind him as he called forth his hunting spear.
“If you are so afraid, trickster, then begone with you!
Crawl back to your human master!”
Puck gave a weak chuckle. “Sure, why not, have fun.” He
looked over at Elisa and said, “and those scales don’t make you look
fat-AAAAAAAAAAAA!” Puck teleported away just as Elisa casually blew a fireball
at him.
“It will take more than that for you to scare me, dragon,”
Odin said firmly. “I know you were once noble creatures so I give you this
single chance… return my eye and I will let you live.”
“The eye, hmmmm?” Demona purred, slowly prowling in front of
Odin. “Is that what caused this wonderful transformation? I had been curious.”
“Had being the key word,” Angela said, digging her claws
into the stone and climbing up the wall like a spider. “It might have been
interesting when this first started but now I honestly don’t care.”
“I do a little,” Elisa admitted, slinking around Odin,
forcing the Norse God to turn his head rapidly to keep an eye on the female
dragons. “Mostly because I don’t want to risk undoing anything that has
happened.” Her lips curled and she bared her sharp teeth in a feral snarl. “I will
NOT return to my weak human form.”
“You act like you have a choice, beast,” Odin said firmly. “Now
show me the ‘fat one’ who has my eye or feel my wrath.”
“Foolish little man,” Demona snapped. “You walk into the den
of a nesting mother and demand what is her’s? How foolish.”
“I will show you foolish!” Odin roared, thrusting his spear
up and sending a bolt of lightning at Demona.
That’s when the attack came.
Maggie and Delilah, who had been ignored by Odin during his
speech, had climbed onto the ceiling and hung their like massive bats. The
moment Odin attacked they leapt down, claws and teeth prepared to tear into
him. Odin was forced to leap away, the two landing with a thud but without any
injury. The Norse God didn’t have time to dwell on his success, however, as he
was forced to keep on the move as the other three females joined the battle,
leaving him constantly running to avoid their claws, teeth, and flames. The massive
beasts casually destroyed the castle, walls cracking and breaking as they
smashed about, sending stone tumbling into the street below. Had they noticed
they wouldn’t have cared, as they had all already decided that by the next
morning New York would be their nest and home with the castle being little more
than a single place to hold some of their eggs.
Lightning flew through the air, flames rushed forward, and
scaly bodies slammed into the dung-coated stone as the dragons bellowed and
roared. Odin lashed out, drawing blood again and again but it seemed never
enough and the females never tired. The Norse God though would not give in, not
till his eye was returned.
But his grand mistake was revealed a moment later. He had
thought he was fighting mindless beasts or, at best, clever dragons. The ones
before him were draconian… but had the minds and skills of gargoyles.
And Gargoyles were always dangerous in great numbers.
The floor beneath him grumbled as Goliath and Broadway, who
had slipped down into the ruins of the tower, burst up from the ground, bathing
Odin with their fire. The old fae screamed in agony as he was cooked, his skin
cracking and darkened and his spear warping as the heat seared him. Falling to
the ground in pain he weakly raised his head, his hand trembling as the dragons
slowly approached…