41. Magnar

Iblinked heavily as I adjusted to the huge chunks of my past which had been ripped away from me. Lumps of my childhood had been reduced to black holes, pieces of the very things that made me, me were just...gone. Consumed by this creature before me and left as nothing in his wake.

I stood beside Erik as the six Andvaris circled us like a pack of wolves. Venom burned for vengeance in my right hand while Tempest hissed curses in my left.

They leapt at us as one and I raised my blades with a cry of rage as the power of the deity’s forms collided with me, sending me crashing back into Erik.

I rolled as I hit the floor, tumbling beneath their legs and scrambling forward as bony fingers clutched at my limbs. Their touch burned, searing away the essence of my skin, devouring my flesh.

I kicked at them, rolling again to try and free myself.

An impossibly tall Andvari slammed into me, pinning me to the ground as his toothless mouth pressed close to my face, sucking in a breath of air with enough force to pull my hair towards his lips.

Golden light was dragged from me again and I could feel the beast hunting for the parts of me that loved Callie.

“No,” I snarled as an image of her in my arms began to slip from my mind. “Not her.” This foul creation could take every miserable piece of my soul but I would never let him take her from me. My memories of her were all I had left and I would sacrifice everything to keep them with me until the very end.

I roared a challenge, driving my forehead into the bridge of his nose and black ichor spewed from the wound as he reared back. I head-butted him again, snapping bone and caving in the left side of his face.

The Andvari tried to rise off of me, releasing my arms as he struggled to back up but I followed him with the rage of my fractured heart.

I slammed my fist into his face then swung Tempest between us, spilling his guts so that emerald fire burst from the wound.

The Andvari started screaming, the pitch of it so high that some of the smaller mirrors in the room shattered, glass tumbling to the cavern floor all around us.

I pressed my advantage, springing to my feet as I swung Venom for his over-long neck. The form lunged backwards, raising an arm which met the sharp edge of my blade and was severed. More emerald fire blazed from the wound and I slammed my foot into his chest, sending him flying back into the towering mirror with a frame made of burning branches.

He hit the glass but instead of it breaking, he fell into the reflection, shrieking in panic as he was sucked inside.

The Andvari started slamming his fists against the glass and a dark smile lit my face as I realised he was trapped.

Another form collided with me before I could advance on the trapped fragment of Andvari’s body and I was thrown back.

I crashed into a row of mirrors to the left of the room and glass shredded my skin as it shattered all around me. I hit the ground amongst the sharp fragments and grasping hands reached for me from every unbroken mirror.

Erik was bellowing in pain on the other side of the cavern as two of the Andvaris tried to pull his arms in different directions and rip him apart.

I lunged for them, losing my hold on Tempest as one of the hands snatched it away. I charged across the cavern, yelling my rage as golden light poured from Erik’s soul and into the gaping mouths of the forms as they began to devour him.

I collided with the closest one, slamming my shoulder into the curve of his hunched back and driving Venom straight through his chest.

He shrieked in pain as I forced the blade up, poisonous blood coating my hands as I threw all of my strength into finishing this beast.

Erik fell on the Andvari which still clung to his other arm as it dug its teeth into his flesh. It was shorter than Erik’s midriff but thick with muscle and it clung to him fiercely. The Andvari’s teeth clamped deeply into Erik’s skin while golden light poured into his mouth and he moaned in pleasure as he began to drain my friend’s soul.

Erik cried out, stabbing and stabbing at it but his blows glanced off of its skin like it was made of metal and only scratches bleeding dark ichor were left on its flesh from his attacks.

I ran to his aid, slamming into the beastly creature and forcing it from Erik’s arm.

Erik bellowed with rage, kicking out at the short form and knocking it across the room towards the flaming mirror.

I raced after it as it tumbled across the stone floor, slamming my shoulder into it again as it began to rise and sending it flying into the glass.

I fell to my knees from the collision and looked up as the Andvari shrieked in panic.

As he fell through the pane of glass, he merged with the one already trapped there, their features combining into a more gruesome version of the two forms. He took on the stumpy body of one and the sickly pale skin of the other and he wailed as he drove his fists against the inside of the mirror, but he couldn’t break out.

My eye met Erik’s across the room and a snarl pulled at his lip as the three remaining forms moved between us. Venom hungered for more of the god’s blood in my grip and I pushed myself to my feet as I prepared to grant its wish.