Stronger Together chapter 228 (Patreon)

I was understandably worried about summoning Odin. For once because  he was Odin, and summoning him could be considered kind of pushy and  insulting, and despite the hellfire momentarily frying my brain in hell I  was positive I couldn't take any of the really big players, and  definitely not the god who trained fucking Merlin. Sure, I'd killed  Fenrir, but that was a match of brute force and I'd leaned on my armor  to pull it off. I'd been getting a bit cocky until I ran into Lucifer  and was reminded of the scale some of these beings played on.

Still  Odin needed to be warned about what was coming so he could let the  accorded nations know. I wasn't sure if they would bring their armies to  the gates to help or just have Winter form up for a siege, but either  way being aware of the upcoming attack would be a key part of being able  to weather it. I brought Raven with me to do the summoning. I hadn't  had any time with my girl for a while. I'd spend time with Barb and  Cinder later but I could tell from Raven's need to be close to me  physically that she was still reeling from my time away, short as it had  been for her.

We held hands as we walked out to the field  behind the castle, enjoying each others company as we carried the  materials for the circle outside. We didn't need much, we weren't  pulling a Harry and trying to trap Odin, just extending an invite, but  we figured he must get plenty of attention so we wanted to put in at  least a bit of work on the circle to really crank the volume. Annoying  maybe but this was important and we needed him here, even if it pissed  him off a little. Besides while I had no illusions about beating Odin I  wasn't exactly a fly he could swat, at least not casually.

I  turned to Rae. "You sure you want to be in on this? Odin won't do  anything to me and I know you're still a bit tense. Being around an  annoyed elder god won't be the most relaxing experience, you could just  sit this out." The most important thing to me was making sure she was  feeling ok, and while I knew she might worry a bit if I did this without  her I didn't want her pushing herself if she didn't have to. "Hell, we  have at least a bit of time, I can do it later today or something maybe  we could go for a walk or take a bath or-" She cut me off with a finger  to my lips.

She replaced the finger with her own lips,  kissing me softly but drawing it out, savoring my presence. "I'm fine  Cam. I know you're worried but I was just...the idea of losing you  scared me, but you aren't lost and you proved you can protect yourself, I  just need to get past it." She let her hand linger on my cheek as she  looked into my eyes, and the love I could see in those violet irises  made my heart flutter and my head pound. I was glad we had found a way  back, because to get back to her I would have tried to fight the Devil  if I ran out of options.

We got to work setting up the  circle. Using it to resonate with Odin was a tricky prospect, he wasn't  exactly the easiest god to shop for. He had a ton of different aspects  to pick from so it was tough to know the right ones. We started placing  out the first part of the circle. Ash branches formed the base of the  circle, a symbolic gesture to start. Yggdrasil was an ash tree, and Odin  had hung himself from it's branches in sacrifice. Inside we placed a  spear, a raven feather, a wolfs tooth, a sprig of mistletoe, and eight  horse shoes.

A few poems from the eddas capped things off  just to make sure it was attuned to him specifically, and I was grateful  to Kara for going on a supply run because we never would have found any  of this shit if she hadn't. Well, not wolf's teeth. Ravens were nowhere  around he but Romania was the fucking wolf capital of the world or some  shit. Seriously I'd looked it up and something like ten percent of  Europe's whole wolf population was in this country. Which honestly I'd  found off. Given all the legends I'd have expected them to be hunted to  the point of near extinction here.

We spread out around  the circle once it was finished. And I closed my eyes, breathing in and  out. "Oh grey wanderer who sipped from the mead of poetry. I beseech you  to grant me an audience. Odin, Donnar Vadderung, Kris Kringle, I summon  you to human form!" I could have used some legendary names like Harry  would have, but honestly I just knew him best by these. Besides I felt  like he would be amused by the last choice, and having him in a good  mood when he showed up couldn't be anything but helpful.

The  wind picked up as I finished my incantation, not even bothering to  empower the circle beyong a light touch of will to avoid giving offense.  I wanted him to have an easy place to land but I didn't want to imply I  was trying to chain him down, I doubted the old god would take that  well, no matter how much he might like me. The clouds above us darkened  as leaves danced along the wind and the sky shaded as the shadows became  longer. This was a bit more ominous than I had expected of him. I  stepped around the circle to stand in front of Raven, trusting my  Archangel Armor to soak an attack of two if needed.

Between  one moment and the next there was pop like a soap bubble exploding and  Odin was just...standing there, looking annoyed. His single eye was  boring into me with reproach. "You'd better have a good reason for this  insult boy. I like you, but I don't tolerate insolence like this from  mortals. I can't have that kind of reputation getting around." His voice  was a growl, and he was looming over me in a distinctly unfriendly way.  Oddly I wasn't really worried. If Odin wanted to hurt me he would have  gone for my throat, the bluster was just to save face.

I  felt bad for the guy really. It must be exhausting to be under that much  scrutiny. I had the option to just not give a shit what people thought,  but gods were shaped by peoples perceptions of them. Managing his PR  was pretty much a matter of life and death for Odin. I'd never thought  much about how vulnerable that makes him alongside his strength. Still  now wasn't the time for sympathy, he wanted to get down to business, so  that's what we would do. "I have grave news, important news that  couldn't wait. I'm sorry for disturbing you but once you hear why I did  I'm sure you'll forgive me."

Odin stared at me harshly,  but finally nodded to me to continue. So I did. I told him the cliff  notes of my trip, about my meeting, and everything that had happened to  me that wasn't private or potentially a weakness. By the time I was done  his face went fro blank and glaring to an actual scowl. I grimaced at  his expression. "Yeah i was pretty sure this was a cluster fuck. I take  it this is somehow worse than I think it is? Because for some reason  terrible things are never exactly as terrible as I expected and are  usually even worse."

That broke him out of his scowl a  bit, though his face was still grim at least it got a laugh. 'Always  boy, and not just you. Our expectation are always tainted by at least a  modicum of hope, and the world is rarely so kind as to oblige it. But  yes, there are factors at play of which you are unaware. Several of the  accorded nations have become suspiciously waylaid by unusual forces,  some of whom had obvious outsiders with them. Mostly they were just  normal attacks, so I'd assumed it was just some kind of coup attempt  from within the accorded nations, it wouldn't be the first time."

That...was  bad. That meant we had no backup at all, and we absolutely could not  afford to be light on soldiers at the outer gates. Lucifer had clearly  been expecting this a while, which meant it was a long time coming,  probably millennia in the making. The longer they'd been planning this  the less likely they were to fuck it up. I really hoped there was  something we could do here to at least help speed things up. My mind  raced with information I could give, but honestly I had no fucking clue  what to say or do.

Most  information I had wasn't relevant or was out of date. I'd passed the  info on Peabody to Ebenezar through Henry and Harry and from what I'd  heard, with proper time to set him up and warning about the mistfiend  the Senior council had been able to take him in with no real fuss. With  his backup plan his shitty little catchphrase revealed they had more  than enough to grab him, and I was told in no uncertain terms that he  was still being strenuously questioned. With advanced warning they were  even able to identify all his sleepers and take them out of commission  before he found out they were coming for him.

It  just went to show what someone like the Blackstaff could do when he had  the time and warning to do his thing. With Joe working the subtler  angles alongside him and Liberty backing them up those three were scary  efficient. Perfect trio of effective wizard ass kickers. Plus Ebenezars  office made him ideal for work like that. I mentally went through  everything. "So there's nothing we can do? No way we can help relieve  pressure on one of the powers so they can get there to help?" I didn't  see one but then again I wasn't Odin.

The  old god chuckled. "Now I never said that. You old allies in the white  court are having a bit of a problem themselves. They have...resources  you may not be aware of, and it would be useful for them to be  involved." I assumed he meant something to do with the Venators, the  secret order of immortal watchmen Lara was a part of that protected the  world from knowledge of the Old Ones. I knew about them, and knew the  Outsiders were related to the old ones in some way so that made sense.  "I'd like you to bring the darklings to Chicago. The Draugr are massing  at the command of my granddaughter. I suspect she is...displeased by  your handling of her brother and volunteered. Her brother and father may  be around as well so be careful."

Fuck,  of course Loki and co were in it with the Outsiders. The old wolf  probably not so much, he didn't do teamwork, but even if the bastards  only had the midgard serpent I would be nervous. Jormungandr was a  fucking beast of the highest order, throw in his sister and father and  Chicago was in for a hot time in the old town tonight. I sighed. "It  never rains but it pours. I'll head home to take care of it. We have  ways of dealing with people like them." By which I meant demonreach as I  was pretty sure he knew. Regardless he nodded and we said our goodbyes  before he vanished. I turned to Raven. "Gather everyone up, including  the darklings. Looks like we're going to war."