Stronger Together chapter 148 (Patreon)

Gard had taken her instructions from Odin pretty damn seriously, and  oddly, it seemed like rather than a bodyguard she saw herself as more  of  a chauffeur for us. Thinking more about it that was kind of what the  Valkyrie's were. They were Odin's car service for his VIP heroes. Still  I was surprised she'd decided to drive us directly to Etri's right  after we left. Raven was the one who usually drove but since we didn't  know where the Svartalf compound actually was we were kind of at the  tall blonde's mercy.

I was also surprised we were going to  be heading there right away. I pushed soulfire into my arm, creating a  golf ball sized orb of godsteel. With the increase of my soul energy I  could make more of the stuff now. I planned to offer it to the  Svartalves either to research or use in it's current form. If I was  lucky they might be able to help me figure out how to actually reforge  and use the stuff. If I could melt it down I could stockpile it and make  large items that would normally be impossible. Sadly I'd never been  able to so much as bend godsteel after it set. Even Kara couldn't make  the stuff give.

As we drove I looked out the window to see  where we were headed. This part of Chicago was a bit odd, I'd never  seen or been here but I did my best to remember the route to make sure I  could get back. I turned to Barb, who had been pretty quiet during the  meeting. "So, you were watching and listening for anything shady right?  What do you think? I know Odin will keep up his end, but was I too hasty  to agree to take on the big bad wolf?" I was pretty sure we could  handle Fenrir, but honestly I was much less certain about the twins.  From what Odin said the wolf was all brute force. A ton of it sure but  brute force nonetheless.

She bit her lip, frowning  pensively out the window before shrugging. "No real way to know until we  end up in a fight with him. For what it's worth though I think it was a  good call. Even if we had decided to ignore him he would have gone  after Connor. These people came for us, not the other way around,  getting back up is nothing but a gain for us since we woiuld be dealing  with them anyway." I nodded conceding the point, no way would we let the  kid get grabbed by the werewolf terminator.

Raven chimed  in "Besides, we'll follow your lead on things like this as long as you  don't try to keep us out of it altogether. We meant what we said to  Odin, you're a good leader when you actually lead. But the fact that you  decided to ask us what we thought certainly speaks well of your change  in outlook. But since you asked yes, that was the right call to me.

The  outside of the Svartalf fortress was...less obvious than I had been  expecting. In my mind I'd pictured towering walls and crenelations  looming imperiously over the surrounding area, but in retrospect that  had been stupid. The Svartalves had at the very least been in Chicago  long enough to establish family lines and dig out the underground levels  here, if they had a big ass castle sticking up in the middle of town  the mortals would have noticed. It might have been hidden with magic but  it was much more likely they had simply decided to use the underground  levels exclusively and the top portion was just living quarters at best.

As  mentioned in the books the compound was strictly monitored and as we  approached the gate and the car slowed a small man appeared standing to  one side of the car. Apparently he was comfortable with the Norse  because he didn't bother to wear a human disguise so close to their  compound, appearing out of nowhere and looking like nothing so much as a  gray from science fiction stories. Sallow gray skin, bulging black  eyes, long spindly limbs, the Svartalf really did look alien. Despite  that he had excellent manners as he swept into a low bow. "Lady Sigrun,  you honor us with your presence. And such beautiful guests you bring  with you."

It was actually hard to see if his eyes flicked  to the girls because being uniform in color their movements were fairly  subtle but given the Svartalf appreciation for beauty it wouldn't have  surprised me at all. Gard nodded imperiously "My lord has bid me bring  you these allies of his for equipment and aid. He said to 'put it on his  tab' they have an important assignment to complete so perhaps you might  aid them." The Svartalf bowed again and stepped back, once more  vanishing as the gate swung silently open. She turned back to us for a  moment to look me in the eye "My lord's blessing will get you far with  the Svartalfar, they have ever been faithful subjects."

I  nodded, privately thinking having an arm made of living one of a kind  divine metal that any smith would kill for would get us further. The  Svartalves loved beauty, and godsteel was gorgeous. Gard drove us into  the compound, taking us through the winding drive in such a way that it  was clear she'd been here more than once. I wondered if her own gear  came from the Svartalves. The car rolled to a stop and Gard turned back  to us again with a serious expression "As guests of my lord your conduct  reflects on his honor. Please comport yourselves with dignity and  respect in the home of our honored retainers."

Despite  saying please that last bit sounded much more like an order than a  request but it wasn't a problem. The Svartalves were damn scary and I  had nothing but respect for them. Besides I had things I wanted from  them so of course I'd play nice. I just hoped that I didn't accidentally  violate one of their customs somehow. I climbed out of the car, the  girls behind me, and looked around in wonder at the compound. Even at  ground level I could see subtle signs of the amazing craftsmanship. Even  the random lawn ornaments looked like they were made by a professional  artist.

It was a bit  intimidating to see the quality of their work set against mine. Even  with the ability to literally sculpt godsteel with my brain in any shape  I could imagine my standards just fell short. As they led us inside I  stared at the furniture and the paintings and even just the random knick  knacks on the tables and I just felt...small. I hoped against hope they  would help me, maybe teach me, because I could learn some real skills  here. Imagining my godsteel forged into things like this was mind  blowing.

We  finally came to a stop in a wide open and richly appointed room. The  walls were cream colored, the carpet a rich burgundy, and the furniture a  dark wood with minimal but expertly applied gold trim. The place looked  something out of an upper crust design catalog. The woman sitting  behind the table next to yet another Svartalf was surprisingly pretty.  She was small and grey like they were but she had delicate fine boned  features and a waterfall of silver hair. She gave us a pleasant smile as  we entered.

The  female Svartalf waved for us to sit down "Greetings, oh guests of the  all father. I am Ivana, sister of Etri. I've been informed of your  circumstances as best we were made aware. We are of course happy to  provide arms and armor for your use. We aren't sure of the circumstances  of your upcoming battle however. Perhaps some details would enable us  to outfit you more effectively. Can you share the nature of your foe?"  Her voice was melodic and pleasant, and her smile seemed warm and  genuine. Again it was hard to tell where her eyes focused however due to  their all black color scheme.

I  held up a hand to stop Gard from talking, wanting to establish my own  reputation with people I was hoping to be studying under for quite a  while. "We've agreed to take on a bit of a problem for the all father. A  certain very bad wolf." I refrained from saying his name outside Odin's  company, not wanting to get his attention. I'd assumed the all father  had protections against that kind of thing, but I was much less certain  about the Svartalves. "We also have some wolves of the french and roman  varieties in town to deal with. Do you all have anything that could help  with those kinds of...issues?"

Despite  not being able to see where her eyes were focused I could definitely  see them widen, and apparently even grey skin can pale in fright. Her  melodic voice came out in a slight stutter "O-oh. Well. That's certainly  ambitious. We were aware of the presence of the frenchman and the  romans, but we didn't know about...that bad wolf. If lord Odin trusts to  accomplish such a momentous feat then we are more than happy to aid you  in your attempt to slay the beast. We have more than a few weapons that  might be of use. My brother can answer questions about our armory more  freely than I however."

With  a nod to the Svartalf to her side, who was obviously Etri she removed  herself from the proceedings, ceding the floor to the older sibling. The  male alf nodded deeply to us and gestured to a nearby guard. He  muttered in the other mans ear and the Svartalf vanished, returning with  several wooden boxes he laid on the table. Etri smiled and gestured  down at the boxes. " Our current arsenal of weapons fitting your needs.  Even some of moon metal. Silver is a tad soft for our tastes, though it  holds magic well, we traditionally use it more in artistic pursuits than  weapons of war. Still we are not without inventory." He snapped his  fingers and the guard stepped forward, opening the boxes one by one.

The  first box had a knife in it. The hilt was worn and wrapped in brown  leather, with the roaring head of a wolf on the pommel, it's eyes set  with small red gems. "First we have the Fang of Hati, used to slay the  wolf that sought to eat the moon. The blade is moon metal of course, and  has been passed down from warrior to warrior for generations.  Consecrated in the life blood of the moon wolf. It restrains both lupine  beasts and the moons children, and should be useful in your endeavors."

He gestured to the next box, which  had an old fashioned flintlock in it. "For the frenchman something a  bit more...personal. His penchant for destroying beauty is well known so  we had long since made preparations. The gun is our own make, enchanted  to guide the bullet. The shot is made from silver inherited by the  animals own descendants." He gestured to the third box. Finally, we have  no Roman wolf slaying weapon, but this particular blade was used to  wound Lycaon, the wolf king of Arcadia. I can't promise it will work as  well on the romans, but it should deal more serious wounds than a normal  sword."

The  xiphos presented was gorgeous, carefully crafted and finely wrought of  silver metal, inlaid with traceries of gold depicting scenes of wolves  across the blade. I could see why the Svartalves would have this thing,  they adored beauty and craftsmanship. I should have expected them to  have more than just the weapons they made. Their collection must be  massive. I smiled and reached out to pull the boxes toward me, pleased  with the craftsmanship. Finally I looked up. "Thank you for your aid.  These will work wonderful. Before we move on to armor however, I had  something to discuss with you." Reaching into my pocket I pulled out the  sphere of godsteel. It was now or never I supposed.