Chapter 42

“Seriously, Jandi? You didn't catch that before?” The grey wolf gently hugged the white one to his side, and she burrowed against him for comfort. “Cerrunos mentioned that the first time we met, when he invited us all out to speak with him.”

“I was a bit more concerned with the impending technological disaster, dear heart. I forgot about that part. And it hasn't come up since then. Not until now, at least.”

Jon nodded. “All of us. In fact... I'm wondering if that had something to do with who could read his invitations. If you've still got yours somewhere, it might make a good test for identifying more of us. But he gave most of us new names, remember? Storm and Shadow, Diviner and Guardian. Stardancer he didn't, but I don't think that was her birth name, was it?”

“No... she already had an alias.” She sighed, watching the fire crackle on the hearth, “So what does that mean? We'll live through the current magic cycle, and maybe beyond? The other Immortals seem to have been legends or myths, sometimes former gods. Are we going to be the new American pantheon?”

“Probably. We'll get credited for getting rid of older gods that went mad, regardless of the facts. You'll be the goddess of Wisdom, Katlynn will get Weather, Commander Sterling will get Night. I'll be the Soldier-God, in opposition to Thor, the berserker warrior of the ancient Aesir.”

“Hah. You want to fight him? He's looking for a challenge.”

“I'm Guardian, not Warrior. My version would involve a sniper-scope at two thousand meters. Doubt he'd be real happy with me.”

Lowe grinned. “Probably not, no. Keep it as a backup plan if we ever need it.” She frowned. “This begs a question, though. Of the Aesir, only Loki and Thor seem to have survived. Coyote of the North American legends, Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs.”

“Until he tried burning down Washington, at least.”

“But he survived the mana drought first, is the point. We have a single Celestial Dragon, Amaterasu of the Japanese, Sekhmet of the Egyptians, a few others... and a very few who have survived multiple cycles. What happened to the rest? Where are Zeus and Poseidon and Apollo? Osiris and Set and Isis? Anu, Bel, and Ishtar? Did they kill each other off at some point? Or is there something about the other half of the -cycle- that kills most of them off? And why not -all- of them, in that case...?”

Whitford looked at her, watching in fascination as her ears semaphored up and down in synch with the ideas running through her head. She looked up at him after a few minutes. “What?”

He smiled. “The ears. It's like your own operating status board, only with ear-flicks instead of blinky lights.”

She snorted. “I have to watch that. It would never do to give myself away in public.”

Jon shook his head. “You never do it with anyone else. I think you feel safe with me.”

“Well, of course. You are -my- Guardian and Consort, after all.”

“Well, you'll have at least a thousand years to figure it out. Although... here's a thought. Most of the survivors seem to have been near volcanoes for some reason. And the exceptions – the BIG exception, in particular, Haroun's whole city. Underground.”

Lowe's ears went straight up. “You're right. That's got to mean something...”

* * * *

Coyote was still snickering at random moments when he was ushered in to meet with Director Lowe in what was being formally referred to as the Magic Communications Center (and informally as the Fireside Chat). The wolf raised an eyebrow. “I thought the Eldest brought you up to date a week ago. Not over it yet?”

Coyote shook his head. “Nope. He was -awake- the whole time. Haroun -slept- through it and he's better informed than Thor is.” He settled down, and appropriated a sofa to lounge on, muttering “What did he -do- for two millenia...?”

Lowe shook her head. “For some people, age brings wisdom. For others... it just cements their original ignorance. At any rate, now that you're here...” She tossed a bit of tinder into the fire. “Cerrunos?”

The unicorn's image appeared almost immediately. “About time you got back, Grandson. How is Haroun doing?”

“Not too badly. Lady Noor is still doing well, and with the help of the Diviner and her people, they seem to have the jihad fanatics more or less under control for now. Turning them into pigs before exiling them back to Persia and Arabia seems to have dampened their enthusiasm for blowing things up, at any rate. And Sergeant Sir Richard Foster and his lady are well on their way toward forging links between the High Desert and the United States on the mortal level.”

Cerrunos smiled. “Excellent. I'm glad he was paying attention during the Conclave.” He acknowledged Lowe's ear-twitch. “I always conduct a meeting at the first Northern Summer Solstice of each Convergence – well, the first when this mode of communications is working. See who's made it through, give the new folks some pointers. This was Haroun's first.”

The wolf nodded. “I see. Anyone else we should know about? Creya and Quetzalcoatl were not a very nice introduction to the new order of things.”

“Morrigan.” Coyote was unusually serious. “I think she's the one who got Thor stirred up. She really should know better than to assist in stirring up trouble between Loki and Thor.”

Lowe frowned. “So what -did- happen? Loki said something about 'Nalfi' when we spoke.”

The Eldest shook his head. “No one is really sure. It was near the end of the last Convergence. She may have been injured after the healing spells started to fail, she may simply have been unable to survive without magic. I doubt that Thor killed her on purpose, but...” He looked intently at the wolf. “Perhaps -you- can tell who is telling the truth about it.”

“The Alpha did not contradict what Loki said to me. But that might only indicate that he -believes- he is telling the truth.”

The Eldest nodded again. “If you can bring an end to this feud, I will be in your debt, Diviner. I do not think that either of them needs to be dealt with the way that the Kraken was. But they'll end up killing each other if they keep this up, the way Merlin and Morgana seem to have done.” The room was silent for a while in respect of the Eldest's mood. He shook his mane out after a few minutes. “So. You've got Thor set up?”

Lowe grinned. “That we have. Rockport, Massachusetts. Mainly a tourist and fishing town, a lot friendlier to someone like Thor than the glass towers of Boston, we hope. We bought out the biggest convention center there, and did some quick redecorating. We've got every rowdy brawler in government service who speaks any of the Nordic languages - and not a few volunteers from SAG and the stuntman's union and even the medieval re-enactors - rotating through what is apparently the biggest permanent party that New England has ever seen. From all reports, he's having a grand time.” She paused, collecting her thoughts. “He's had two weeks to mellow out, hopefully to decide that machines or not, we've got his kind of people, and as you suggested, I'd like to go up and meet him face to face myself now that Coyote's in town to introduce us.” She glared in Coyote's direction as he started snickering. “And assuming he can manage the introduction without blurting out 'Hulk' and collapsing into giggles. Again.” She sighed, and buried her face in -both- hands as the Eldest began chuckling.

* * * *

The noise of the party was noticeable even before the car doors were opened. Lowe had furled her empathic 'ears' even before they'd turned into the driveway. Whitford and a pair of human members of the Detail did a quick sweep before they let her get out of her car, but there was really no way to be sure of anything in the crowd. A cheer rose from around the corner of the building, and Whitford beckoned her over after he'd checked it out. “I think that's the fellow we want.”

The lawn between the resort buildings had been marked off into several athletic and weapons practice fields, with well-used archery butts at the far end. The dragon-boat was drawn up on the beach beyond them, and a steady stream of barmaids was replenishing mugs and bottles of beer, ale, and mead to the crowd of mostly males who were cheering on the current contestants in a wrestling match. Thor was recognizable from his description – his opponent was a lion-morph who stood at least a foot taller, but who was nevertheless losing the match. The big cat was steadily being forced back, barely keeping himself from being brought down by retreating toward the edge of the ring. At the very edge, he made a final stand, pushing forward to stay in bounds, but this gave the red-haired Immortal an opening and he found himself on the ground in short order. The Clydesdale-footed centaur who appeared to be the referee announced “Tag ned på tre minutter, to og fyrre sekunder.” Danish was the lingua franca, it seemed. Cheers and grumbling accompanied the announcement as money changed hands.

Thor offered the lion a hand up. “Not bad. I had to work for that one.” He glanced up and noticed the official group. “Coyote! Where've you been? Three weeks and you hadn't shown up. I was wondering if you'd lost your taste for parties!” He waved off another challenger with a “Later”, grabbed a mug, and headed toward where the canids were waiting.

Coyote shrugged. “You know how it is. New Convergence, everything's getting sorted out. Grandfather had me running around doing some errands for him.” He grinned. “But I'm on the last one now, and after I introduce you, I'll join in the fun.”

“Hah!” Thor grinned. “Never thought I'd see you on a leash. Even his.”

Coyote smirked. “Well, it wasn't exactly a leash. Mainly things I wanted to do anyway. Popped in to visit Haroun and seduced a couple of his noblewomen, said hi to Circe and Nimue, said goodbye to Quetzalcoatl, a few things like that.”

“You were involved in that, were you? And helping your grandsire? Hah. I -told- Morrigan there was more to it than upstart mortals managing to kill the Snake on their own. So what's this final errand? Who do you need to introduce to me?”

Coyote nodded to Lowe and Whitford. “One of the chief advisors to the leader of the Americans. She who the Eldest has named the Diviner, and her paramour who he has named Guardian. Diviner, be known to Thor Odinsson, Thunderer of the Aesir that were.”

“A wise woman and soothsayer, are you? You don't look the part, wolf. No one's going to believe you've got any foresight unless you look -mystical-. The Norns were mistresses of it. They were eldritch. You... you're just decorative.”

Lowe let her teeth show in a feral grin. “I'll take that as a compliment. The Norns were from a different time, Thunderer. I am here as a representative of my culture, not theirs. We don't do mysterious. We do competent. -Loki- tried to lie to me. I caught him at it.” She let her ears flick down and back up. “Fortunately for you. I arranged to destroy the Kraken and the Snake. Had he succeeded in misleading me, do you think I could not have done the same to you?”

She let Thor start to bristle before raising a hand. “No, not in honorable combat. You are still the master of that. But like the Norns, I will use trickery and manipulation and foreknowledge of the Wyrd to bend Fate to my will. If I need to win to protect my people, I will do so. By any means necessary. I will not attack your strengths. I will dodge your attack and my response will exploit your weaknesses.” The grin became ferocious. “And I can read your fears, Thunderer. You know you have weaknesses.”

She shrugged. “Unlike the Norns, I prefer not to do so if I do not have to. I came here to find out the rest of the truth behind your feud. Loki hates you, and told me something of why – and the Alpha Wolf was there with him and did not dispute his words. And yet he tasted of deceit. So I came here, trusting you to tell me your side of the tale.” She snagged a bottle from a passing server and raised it in a salute. “So here is to Truth, Thunderer. Will you tell me of Nalfi, and why Loki blames you for her death?”

Coyote chuckled at Thor's dumbfounded expression. “And she's not even a half-century old yet, Thor. Did you really think that Grandfather was going senile? She's -good- at what she does. I haven't managed to put one over on her yet, and I'm not even worried that she'll kill me if I mess up. She won't for just a prank.”

Thor scowled. “I will not tolerate disrespect from a callow youth, Coyote. She...” The scowl grew downright furious. “What are you laughing at now, you daft old half-breed?”

“You. Thor, disrespect is not what she's showing you. Disrespect is what she showed Creya and Quetzalcoatl. She found them a threat to her people, and had them destroyed without warning. She's warning you of what she can do, and she respects you enough to tell you to your face. So listen to her. If it makes you feel better, I'll dig up a hooded robe she can wear and put runes on it for you, but I'd rather look at her this way than if she was pretending to be older than Baba Yaga. As you say, she -is- decorative.” He shrugged. “So I'd take her up on her request. Tell her why Loki wants you dead, and let her see if she can fix things. At least give her a reason not to help Loki do it.”

Thor gave the wolves a sideways glance, and noticed that neither of them looked particularly worried. “Does he speak sooth, Diviner?”

Lowe nodded. “He does. And while Coyote is part of my precautions in case this meeting went badly... there are others. And he does not know them all.” She sighed. “I had no intention of upsetting you, Thunderer. I want to know what happened. Why Loki hates you. The other two were necessary. Both had attacked those that I am sworn to protect. I see no reason why you should be my enemy as well. Please... let me help.” She could feel his jumbled emotions, pride warring with caution – yes, he was quite aware that he had never done well in the sort of contest that she threatened. She held her breath as she watched the emotions play across the surface of his mind, until he made his decision...

Thor grumbled, but backed down at the show of solidarity. “If you must, you wretched girl. But not here. Let us find a private spot.”

* * * *

Thor took a keg of ale down to the beach with a word to the centaur to keep the rest away, and sat down with the trio on the sand next to his longboat.

“So. The skald Jan Sigurdsson told me something of the tales that are still told, and so have others since your king has granted this guesting... at your request, Diviner?”

Lowe nodded. “On my advice, yes. I am not his only adviser, of course. I deal with things that could be a threat to our nation.”

“Things such as Creya and Quetzalcoatl? And myself?”

“And more mundane enemies, as well. For some time we have been fighting off various groups who oppose us on the basis of their religion being different from ours. Or perhaps more precisely, they are offended that we do not believe as they do.”

“Ah. Priests. I know their kind of old. They latch on to one of us, and demand things in our names that we never asked for.”

The wolf nodded. “In this case, they just made up the deity, as well. Islam didn't get started until well into the time without magics.

“Gutsy. Still, it was always a workable racket. Some of us enjoyed the status ourselves. For a while at least.”

Coyote chuckled. “And don't tell me you didn't, Thunderer.”

Thor chuckled, a bit ruefully. “Ja, I did. I was younger then, and having eager young maidens in my bed every night was fun for a century or two. But they keep asking you to decide things, and do things for them, and complain when things go wrong, and sometimes two followers want the opposite and you can't please them both, and the priests want you to be the center of a lot of pomp and ceremony, and pretty soon you just want to get out on the ocean again, explore, battle to see who is the best warrior...” He waved his hand back at the complex, where the sounds of weapons practice and carousing could be heard. “This, Diviner, this is what being a god should be. I approve.”

Coyote grinned. “So do I. Fun and adventure.”

Lowe nodded. “So how many of the tales are correct? Was there once a Valhalla? Did you fight dragons and giants? We haven't seen any giants since the Convergence started.”

“Fafnir was real enough. Jan asked me about Grendel. That one sounds like a tale of the last of the Uskaraji.”

The wolf perked up her ears. “The same group as the Kraken was from?”

“Aye. There weren't many left by the time we Aesir were born, but they were fell creatures indeed. They prolonged their lives through necromancy. We destroyed many of them, but apparently not all. This Beowulf may have dealt with one of them, once the end of the cycle had weakened them. There weren't really giants, of course. Not the way they tell it, with a glove the size of a house. Some folks that would make even that lion look short, but nothing greater than two fathoms. Strong, but slow and clumsy. They were never much of a challenge, really.” He sighed. “Good times, when we were youngsters. Protecting the farmers, keeping the weather in line, dealing with monsters, guesting at stockades and farmsteads and often not even being recognized. That's the other problem, of course. If everyone knows who you are, they end up scared to fight with you.” He grinned. “I've had more real challenges the past few weeks than I've had in three thousand years. For that alone, girl, I owe you the truth.”

“And that truth is...?”

Thor sighed, staring out at the sea for a few minutes before he spoke again. “The tales are correct that name me Odinsson. He was the oldest of us, and father of several. Good times, at first. We wandered, Odin and Frigg, Balder and Nanni, Freya and Sif, Heimdall and Tyr and the rest of us, righting wrongs by force where we could, and when we needed cleverness and spells, Loki and Nalfi would provide them. Eventually, we settled down for a while. Played at being gods, and ruling over what we called Midgard, sometimes having fights with the Olympians or the Tuatha Dé Danann, visiting Wei Lung or the Egyptians or even crossing the oceans to guest with Smoking Jaguar and Coyote's people. The Eldest came to visit us occasionally, and taught us how to send messages to the other pantheons quickly when needed. But the world changed, and the magic started to die. And as the magic died, so did the Aesir. Most of us, at least. Balder was the first to go. And when the magic began to fade, Nalfi panicked. She decided that she would rather die quickly than become mortal and die of old age. She feared that more than anything, after what happened with one of the Uskaraji. Left her half-drained, and she took a decade to finish healing. It may be that she was cheating even then, using her spellcraft to support herself. But the Eldest had warned us that the change would come eventually, and she did not want to risk what would happen.”

He refilled his mug, drained it, and filled it again. “Odin's crime and mine? We failed to stop her. She stole the Odinspear and flung herself upon it. She died in my arms, by the Allfather's weapon. Her final words were 'Even gods die, Thunderer. But at least I will die at my own will.' And that is how Loki found us. He went mad with grief. Odin was killed fighting with him, and by then the magic was dying quickly anyway. I fled rather than kill him, hoping he would recover his senses, and became a hermit on Iceland. And somehow the two of us survived. The rest, as the Eldest had warned us – most Immortals only last until the first time the magic dies. Loki and I have survived that twice now, as has Morrigan. None of the Olympians have done so, nor did the Egyptians...”

Lowe interrupted. “One of the Egyptians has. Sekhmet.”

Thor looked up at that. “Really?”

“Truth. She was with Haroun, and is currently his ambassador to us.”

“I shall have to meet her again. It's been too long.” He sighed. “But not now. Diviner, I owed you that tale for your guesting, but it is something I would soonest not relive. And now I would drink to the memory of my friends and brethren, and be alone for a while with their ghosts. Coyote, would you keep us company? You are old enough to understand.”

The old canid was unusually serious. “That I will do, Thunderer.” He nodded to Lowe and Whitford. “You kids run along now. I'll keep an eye on him for you. Tell my grandfather, though, would you?”

“Certainly, Coyote. Thor, I thank you for your tale, and for what it is worth, you have my deepest sympathy. If there is anything you need, or if you wish to talk with me again, Dag knows how to arrange it. And you may guest here for as long as you wish.” She bowed, and then she and her mate retreated up the beach and back to their waiting car. Behind her, Thor drew yet another mug of ale.