He’d give anything for working comms, something to coordinate the battle with. Everyone was too scattered for him to be sure his request was heard. He cast a shockwave spell, throwing the mageglobe ahead of them. When it exploded, magic rippled outward, leveling the demons and zombies in their immediate area. It gave him and Nadine breathing room for all of two seconds before he caught sight of the goddess marching toward them from the shoreline.
Hel was ready for war, walking off the shores of Náströnd and leading an army of the dead onto the streets of Manhattan. Patrick’s stomach sank at the realization they were facing numbers his side couldn’t stand against, even with the few gods who’d followed them to the Battery in the mix.
“We need to regroup,” Nadine said, a thread of panic creeping into her voice.
Easier said than done, but Patrick could at least hopefully buy them some time.
“Wade!” Patrick yelled, hoping the teenager heard him. “Get into the air and aim for Hel!”
Wade immediately launched himself into the air with a roar. He spat fire at the spells aimed his way, gaining altitude. The valkyries on their pegasi flew toward Wade to form ranks around him. Taking Wade off their six was a loss, but they needed to cull the numbers on Ethan’s side if at all possible without losing too many of their own people.
An explosion of light had Patrick blinking spots out of his eyes, desperately trying to keep a hunter at bay with limited vision. Jono snarled nearby, and the hunter was dragged to the ground and savaged by him.
When Patrick could see clearly again, his gaze zeroed in on where Gerard was engaged in battle with Loki. Their two legendary spears clashed together again and again with a sound that made Patrick’s ears ring, magic flashing searingly bright with every connected hit.
Jono shouldered aside a pair of zombies, snapping at their legs and breaking bone. The dead fell to the ground, and Patrick stabbed them both before they could rise again. Spencer’s magic danced around the dead surrounding them, but it didn’t appear to be as strong as before. There was less of it, but at least Patrick knew his friend was still alive somewhere in the fight.
Hinon flew overhead, calling down lightning and dodging spells. Thunder was a near-constant rumble through the air, white noise that Patrick barely noticed. The demons ahead of them went down under Sage’s teeth and claws. Jono lunged past her at the drekavac preparing to leap onto her back.
What space Patrick had managed to buy them was quickly shrinking. All he could see were the grasping hands of the dead, the nightmarish faces of demons, and black-eyed hunters intent on murder. The dagger in his hand wasn’t enough against the sheer numbers battering at their limited defenses.
Then a horn sounded across the battlefield, crystal clear as a bell. Patrick recognized the sound in an instant, and he spared a look back toward the way they’d come, hope a desperate taste in his mouth.
The broken pieces of the Bifröst vibrated off the ground and into the air, rainbow-colored light glowing as bright as the hidden sun. The shards of solid light came together in a wave, the rainbow bridge reforming in seconds, the edge of it curving down to the ground rather than the horizon.
Thundering over it came Odin, the Allfather seated astride the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Riding in his wake was Órlaith at the head of a contingent of Seelie Court fae and Thor on a borrowed steed, Mjölnir held aloft. Winging above the riders were Muninn and Huginn, Odin’s ravens bearing witness to the battle.
“To war!” Thor bellowed.
His battle cry was echoed by the valkyries in the air and the fae. Órlaith and the fae split around Odin and Thor, charging into the fray with murderous intent on their faces.
Thor called down a massive lightning bolt from the reactionary storm. It shook the ground when it hit. The dead in its vicinity exploded from the impact, sending body parts flying through the air to land amidst the fighting. Nadine slammed a shield down around them and shoved the base of it outward, forcing the dead back from their immediate location. She dropped it once they gained a little ground, and some of the charred bits of bodies fell down around them like bloody hail.
“I never want to see another fucking zombie for the rest of my life after this,” Patrick said.
Nadine just grunted and kicked a hunter in the balls, tipping him off-balance right into Sage’s mouth. Patrick looked behind him at the sound of hooves, coming face-to-face with Sleipnir as the horse clattered to a halt. Patrick looked up at Odin, staring into the Allfather’s heterochromatic eyes.
“Heimdallr said you were dealing with the Fallen,” Patrick said, trying to catch his breath as Nadine raised another shield between them and the zombies.
“There would have been far more demons to greet you if I had not dealt with many of them,” Odin said coolly.
Patrick winced, thinking about that insurmountable number. “They’re going to keep coming if we don’t get the Morrígan’s staff out of Andras’ hands.”
Odin said nothing, batting aside a cluster of spells that were aimed their way as if they were nothing more than irritating insects. “He stands with Hades at the monument.”
Nadine conjured up some mageglobes, staring straight ahead and breathing heavily, both hands clutching at her carbine. “Then let’s get the fucker.”
“Can you clear us a way?” Patrick asked Odin.
Odin didn’t answer in words, but the god urged Sleipnir forward. Nadine hastily lowered her shield, and the demons and zombies surrounding them surged closer. Sage roared and trampled a few zombies and a hunter, who Nadine put out of his misery by carving a line of bullets across his face. The demon fled its host but didn’t get far.
Ashanti intercepted the incorporeal demon, drawing it into her mouth similar to how Fatima swallowed souls. Except Patrick knew for a fact that demon was never going anywhere ever again. Ashanti snapped her iron teeth together a few times while tearing through some zombies.
“Odin,” Ashanti said, voice raspy.
“Ashanti,” Odin replied.
“There are soultakers between us and our prey.”
