Stronger Together chapter 159

The phone ringing wasn't an unusual turn of events. It was pretty  common to get calls now that our friends had phones they could use. No  one gets more giddy about technology than wizards who spent decades  watching everyone else have fun with it. However, out of all the people  we'd given the phones to, the one who was the least flighty was Henry.  He only called if he had news or was inviting us for a visit, and he  knew we had too much going on right now for a social call.

I  was still sitting on the couch with Raven, Morgan had brought the  kitten back in here and he was playing with Rumor while we all watched  and cooed. When my phone rang I answered on the first ring. "Hey Henry,  what's up?" I waited for a response. No sound issued from the phone and I  checked to make sure I hadn't hung up but he was still there. I rolled  my eyes "Caller ID Henry, it tells me who's calling." I heard a relieved  exhalation on the other end. Wizards get freaked out by the weirdest  things.

His rueful chuckle filled the line "Sorry Cameron,  I'm still getting used to this new method of communication. I was  calling with news. One of my residents got a visit from a long time  friend. He contacted him after being approached by a very large man  looking for you. He knew you visited us down here so he went out of his  way to get us the news. Based on the description and aura of the man I  suspect we may have found Fenrir." That was...sort of a mixed bag. I was  glad we had a location but I was also terrified.

Honestly  I hadn't been too worried about tracking him down in any case Odin had  been pretty clear that Fenrir was not a subtle being. I was kind of  surprised he hadn't just shown up at the door to challenge us to a  fight. Henry sighed tiredly and continued "Aside from looking around  he's been putting out the word that he'll be spending his days at  soldier field. He wants you to come to him if he can't find you I  assume. Do I need to mention how worrying it is that he's just been  telling everyone where he'll be all the time and doesn't seem remotely  concerned about being attacked? Because traditionally that isn't a great  sign."

It  wasn't. But we had known that Fenrir was that type of guy, not to  mention that this would be an absurdly difficult fight in the first  place. I considered all my options and decided to go meet with him. Odin  said he was the kind of guy who fought head on and that he would even  delay the battle if you gave him a reason. We could talk to him and have  him wait for us to finish off the twins before our battle. As old as he  was I doubted patience was a problem for him. I thanked Henry for the  tip and hung up.

Raven  was sitting next to me watching the animals play I raised an eyebrow "I  assume you heard that?" She just nodded "I'm going to head down there  to meet him. From what I've heard he isn't the type to sucker punch a  person. He would consider it beneath him. I might bring Kara with me  anyway though just in case. You want to come with us too?" Aside from  being confident in their power and Fenrir's nature I really hoped he  didn't start a fight in the middle of the city. Chicago wasn't ready for  a giant wolf vs Kryptonian show down.

Raven  looked a bit unconvinced "I would feel better if we called Gard as  well. I think we should involve our friends from Asgard in the  proceedings just to keep things on the up and up." Her face was smooth  and unruffled as always, with just the tiniest furrow in her brow to  show she was concerned, but I'd been with her long enough to tell when  she was genuinely worried.  She slipped out her phone and sent a quick  text. "Should we bring the weapons and armor with us? We are going to  meet the target."

That  might be the cautious thing to do but I wasn't convinced it was the  smart thing. I shook my head "No. If we show up armed for bear it gives  him a reason to pick a fight. We go in with peaceful intentions. Gard  should be able to keep things civil in her capacity as a representative  from Asgard." I paused. "Actually we should bring them and leave them in  the car. If he's putting his location out there the twins or the Beast  might show up. It's actually super worrying to me that the frenchman  still hasn't shown himself."

The  fact that the insane cannibal serial killer werewolf famous for being a  stalker had been mysteriously quiet was actually even more upsetting  than the twins wanting us dead. At least we knew what they looked like  and what they could do. The Beast was a total mystery complete with fava  beans and a nice chianti. Raven looked a bit surprised, but then her  previously slightly wrinkled brow furrowed in much more obvious worry.  "That...I had forgotten about him honestly. Which was a very stupid  thing to do. With Fenrir and the twins around he'd sort of taken a back  seat. I haven't sensed him at all either so it was easy to dismiss him."

I  nodded "Yeah, he's more of a subtle threat. On the upside I suspect  he's too much of a coward to come after us during our talk with Fenrir.  The god wolf doesn't strike me as someone who would approve of Jean  Chastel. Their way of doing things are just too different." Raven's  phone beeped and she opened up her newest incoming text. I leaned in to  see the screen "Is that Gard? There's no way she's already here right?  Although Valkyrie's can travel between worlds, maybe she has like a  magic dimension hopping car."

The  worry melted off Raven's face, replaced with a smirk "She's on the way  and wanted to know if we needed her to pick up lunch. She'll be here in  an hour." She actually laughed aloud at my downcast expression "You've  been ordering food too much. Just because your Burger King gets here in  ten minutes doesn't mean you can have everything delivered that fast.  Valkyrie's don't adhere to the thirty minutes or less format." The fond  smile on her face almost got one out of me, even through my sulking.

We  spent the next hour getting ready, getting Kara and getting together  all the weapons and armor. Luckily the weapons were mostly small stuff  so we were able to pack them all up into a duffel bag. Finally we heard a  beep outside and slipped out to climb into the limo Gard had brought.  The Valkyrie rolled down the divider to look at us meaningfully when we  got in. "Raven says you have a meeting with the wolf. Are you sure this  is wise?" More so than all the stories or than the warnings from my  friends, Gard's apparent fear when asking that question scared me. Gard  was someone who could duct tape her own guts back in without much worry.  This level of concern from someone like her was alarming.

It  was also a bit confusing "I thought you said he wasn't the type to use  sneak attacks. As long as we show up and tell him about Remus and  Romulus we can always just schedule a proper fight at a later date  right? That's what everyone told me anyway." Though admittedly it did  seem at odds with the impression I got of him from other sources. Lycaon  wasn't the type to cower, if Fenrir could put him on the floor with a  glance he must be a terrifying and overbearing guy. I was starting to  have second thoughts about this meeting. I just wished someone would  give me a damn straight answer.

Gard  furrowed her brow and opened her mouth. She stopped, then tried again.  She kept cutting herself off like she was trying to figure out what she  wanted to say. Finally she spoke "The wolf is not reasonable or mild. He  is driven and ferocious. He will wait for the appointed time if he sees  you as a challenger, if you show weakness you will be prey and he will  consume you on the spot. Meeting with that beast is a life or death  struggle. Every glance, every word, every gesture will be overwhelming.  His natural disposition is to dominate, and should you be cowed by his  power, that will be when your life ends."

She  pulled out onto the street her eyes moving from my face to the road,  but she kept up her warning. "There are a few things you can do to get  you through this. First of all, meet his eyes. Since you can't trigger a  soulgaze it should be easier for you. If the wolf moves closer to you  don't back away. If he agrees to postpone your battle don't show relief,  only acknowledgement. Most importantly of all, do not exhibit fear,  either of him or of anything else. Standing in the presence of that  monster is like walking a tight rope over an endless abyss. Do not look  down."

I made  not of all her suggestions. I had been half expecting a spartan warrior  king or something from how everyone talked about him but from Gard's  descriptions Fenrir was more like an actual wolf than I had expected. I  sat in silence mulling things over as we drove to the field. It was  interesting things ended up happening here, this was where the Word of  Kemmler was going to end up in the original timeline. I made a mental  note to check to see if the thing was there already just in case, that  would cut off quite a bit of trouble, but sadly I doubted it. When we  arrived we climbed out of the limo, Kara taking the lead at first, but I  pulled her back, figuring Fenrir would want to speak to the so called  leader as they had named me.

The  first thing I felt when I climbed out of the car was power. I was used  to feeling other people's power like a charge in the air, like it was  waves rolling off of them that I could almost touch. Like the precogs  had said though I wasn't seeing Fenrir's power, I was already in it. His  presence was so huge and intimidating I was already standing in it  despite being what felt like hundreds of feet from him. I glanced up  toward where the feeling got stronger. The field museum, of course. I  headed in that direction and had to stop after only a few steps.

Where  before I felt like I was inside a storm walking toward him was like  strolling down a hungry monsters throat. Every step I took was like  another step into the massive gaping maw of a monster. I understood  Gard's warning now and I was thankful for it. If I'd gone in unprepared  or just rushed through this I would have absolutely shown the fear she  warned me against and been killed. I stopped, closed my eyes and let  myself get used to the presence, I let it soak into me, feeling any  excess energy being absorbed into the godsteel. I clenched my metal fist  and took a deep breath.

As  I walked into the field museum my eyes were drawn immediately to a man  standing in front of the t-rex skeleton that I couldn't help but  recognize as Sue. I forced myself to be calm as I strolled up next to  him. He was huge, easily seven feet tall and with a powerful presence,  but he didn't even look at me, seemingly captivated by the t-rex. "A  magnificent beast in her time. The ages make fools of us all." He stared  contemplatively at the skeleton of the mighty beast. "Have you come  prepared to do battle?" His eyes turned to meet mine and I felt the full  presence of one of the worlds most dangerous predators. How was I  supposed to not freak out again?