Notes: Hey everyone greetings from beyond the grave. Deeply sorry this took so long, wish I could claim Hel has been holding my soul hostage, but I don't think she'd waste her time lol. I honestly just haven't had much time lately, but hey finally got this one done and hopefully I can get back on track from here.

Quick reminder about what happened last chapter since it has been so long, Kratos and Atreus encounter Hel at Tyr's temple, and now things are about to go down.

Also I hope you all had a some happy Holidays!

Disclaimer: I do not own God of War.

Song of Storms and Sorrow Chapter 3

Atreus

"You know her Mimir?" I found myself asking.

A part of me knew it was a silly question before it ever graced my lips, but I needed to have some context here. So far Hel has been acting rather aloof and even whimsical, but I knew full well that the goddess wasn't being serious, and I simply couldn't find in me to let my guard down in the face of death itself.

Mimir hummed his acknowledgment. "That I do lad, unfortunately."

"Come now, why so cold Mimir?" Hel chimes in, her tone practically mocking. "We haven't seen each other in so long, and now that we're finally reunited, you don't seem the least bit happy about it. That just hurts."

"Forgive me for being less than thrilled to see somebody who is almost assuredly going to try to kill us. We've already had to deal with one of those today, I feel like we're at least owed a short reprieve." Mimir retorted.

I half expected Hel to be offended by Mimir's frankness, but instead she only seemed to look more amused, her smile growing larger as her hand came up to caress her chin. "Ah yes, I guess you've already had a run in with that hammer wielding oaf? Well seeing as how you lot are still alive, it looks like I'm going to have my work cut out for me." She mused.

"So you really plan to fight us then?" I asked, secretly hoping she'd say no, and we could be on our marry way.

The goddess shrugged as she gave me another smile, this one slightly more sober. "I'm afraid that is so little one, nothing personal. You and your old man just picked a fight with the wrong lot."

Hmm, there was some hesitation there. Maybe there was some hope left, hope I was eager to latch onto. "You say that, but it doesn't actually sound like you want to fight us right? Why bother, couldn't you just pretend you didn't see us or something?"

The goddess' smile waned slightly more before she let out a sigh and began to speak again. "Sorry, I can't do that." Then she momentarily broke eye contact to stare out over the lake, her eyes narrowing on something out in the distance.

Feeling curious, I followed her gaze, and there across the frozen lake I saw it. There was a small bird. It was far off and perched on top of a cliff, its body giving off an unnatural green glow, and perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could swear the creature was staring right at us. Its eyes were stern and judgmental.

"It is one of Odin's familiars." I heard Mimir whisper.

So that is how it is huh? "Well that sucks." I declared.

My comment earned a light laugh from the goddess before she was interrupted by my father. "Enough words boy, it is clear she will not listen!"

That remark seemed to get the goddess' attention, and Hel quickly turned her gaze towards father, her eyes sharpening as they took in the battle hardened warrior before her.

"Hey there big guy, you have a cute kid there. Either of you have a name?" Hel asked.

"Who we are is none of your concern!" Father spat.

Hel rolled her eyes as her confident smile returned. "Come now, I prefer to at least know the names of those whose lives I steal."

Father scoffed. "If you're set on standing in our way, than I shall remove you!"

"Yeah I figured as much." Hel mused before she twirled her spear around, pointing the business end in father's direction, and taking a loose combat stance.

Feeling the dread of imminent battle take hold of me, the grip I had on the father's blades tightened, and my eyes worked frantically in an attempt to study my opponent's stance for weakness to exploit.

Unfortunately I couldn't gleam much from her stance, it looked lazy and full of openings, but I wasn't going to be fooled. The very fact that father hadn't yet made a move, was enough for me to make the assumption that there was more to it than that. So I turned my focus towards her weapon.

Hel's spear was certainly interesting. While at a glance it appeared to be a simple winged spear, it had quite the intricate design. The shaft was almost entirely made of some abnormally dark metal, and runic etchings wound all the way around it from its bladed tip down to its spiked bottom. The runes were not unlike the ones the dwarfs had adorned father's weapons with, and they seemed to emanate an eerie glow.

The tip of the spear was the most unique though, since it was practically three headed. One main blade sticking straight forward like one would expect, but below that between the spear head and the shaft were two metal wings sticking out on each side.

The design wasn't to strange by itself since I'd seen something similar things before, both on war spears, and spears made for boar hunting, but these were different. Those types of wings were mainly used for catching enemy weapons or pinning prey down for the finishing blow. These were longer, and sharper, way sharper. In fact neither looked any less lethal than the spearhead itself.

Then there was the last thing that caught my eye. It was at the center spear head between the three points. There was a hole molded right into the metal. It was a small thing, only a few inches of open space, but it wasn't empty. There was something floating there almost as if it were weightless.

The strange object was small and orb like. The orb kind of resembled an eye, if a bit to large to belong to a human, and around it swirled a dark mist not unlike the Winds I'd seen in Hel, which now that I think about it, that kind of make sense given who the weapon belonged to.

The question was, what did that all mean for us? What was the weapon capable of? I'd have liked to ask Mimir if he knew anything about it, or better yet the dwarves, but I didn't have the time. Hel was already moving, her black spear gleaming as it sliced through the air like an arrow fresh from the bow.

Hel had thrown her spear! Panicking only slightly, I threw myself to the side to just narrowly avoid impalement as the spear flew past father and me to piece the bridge behind us. Meanwhile I saw the goddess' body flicker and shift before speeding off after her weapon faster than anything I'd ever seen before. For a moment she appeared like nothing more than air trailing in the spears wake, and only once she was beside her weapon again did her human from return.

"What was that!?" I shouted.

"Stay alerted boy!" My father roared as he charged towards their attacker.

Hel only laughed as she blurred into motion again side stepping father's first swing, jumping back to avoid the second, and then landing on one foot she shifted her stance to throw her spear straight for my father's face.

Father let out a grunt as he swung out with the back of his axe, swatting the spear away and sending it twirling upward over his head, but before the spear could land Hel's body flicked again and she vanished.

In the blink of an eye Hel went from being several feet in front of father and without her weapon, to being directly above his head with her spear in hand, the blade pointed straight down and ready for a strike.

I noticed, father noticed, Hel struck down, father tried to bring his axe around to block, but I moved faster. I flung one of my blades towards the goddess, the edge crackling with wicked flames as it cut through the air straight towards my target.

Hel must've caught the gleam of the blade in the corner of her eye since she shifted in mid air, bringing the butt of her spear up slightly to deflect it. It was a minor distraction, but it proved enough for father to get his axe up into the path of the spear deflecting the tip, and catching the wings locking them in place.

"Better, now don't lose focus!" Father declared as he struggled to hold back the goddess, while she planted her feet back on solid ground, and tried to force her spear down into his throat.

"That was some fast reaction time. Not bad for a little brat and an old man. Wonder if you can keep it up." Hel mused before her form flicked again.

This time Hel didn't travel very far. Instead her body only shifted along the length of the spear, allowing her to slip right in under father's guard and deliver a savage knee to his gut. Father grunted as the air was forced form his lungs and he tried to kick back, but Hel was already leaping backward out of father's reach, and leaving her weapon to clatter onto the ground at his feet.

Father's eyes burned with irritation as he looked back and forth between the goddess and her discarded weapon. Then without taking his eyes off her he kicked it up into his open hand and in a manner that seemed all too familiar to him, he hurled the spear off the bridge, sending it flying an incredible distance before it plunged into the cold water nearly a mile away.

Hel only smiled before flickering and vanishing completely. Father and I both began to frantically look around for the missing goddess when suddenly I heard a soft splash and the sound of ice cracking. My eyes quickly snapped in the direction of the noise and I saw the spear that father had just thrown, come flying back out of the lake. The spear shot up high and flew straight to land back in the same spot Hel had occupied only moments ago. Then right before it could strike the ground, Hel reappears, her hand raised up to take hold of her weapon.

Hel's expression was smug, but her easy confidence clashed against her soaking wet armor and hair. On top of that she was now covered in thin lair of ice. "Now that was just rude."

"Did she just… How did… What!?" I sputtered, while my eyes shot between her and the lake, and my mind raced to try and put the pieces together.

"What trickery is this?" Father snarled.

"That's what I want to know!? I mean seriously, what is even happening!?" I yelled in frustration. I mean really, how's she doing that? I mean she's a goddess so obviously it was magic, but something seemed off. It must have something to do with that weapon surely, but I've seen magical weapons before and none of them have done anything quite like that.

"It's Sorrow's Wind." I heard familiar mutter from behind.

"Parden?" I asked cocking my head back to see Sindri standing there, his posture hunched, and his expression uneasy.

"Sorrow's Wind," The dwarf repeated. "It is one of my brother's passion projects. I didn't help him with that one, but from what I understand, he infused it with the Winds of Helheim, allowing it to take on some of their properties. So as long as the owner lives it will never be out of their reach."

"Brother would you shut your damn trap and get back here! You trying to get yourself killed!?" I heard Brok shouted from further back.

"Oh I wouldn't worry lads, I have no interest in sniveling cowards, though I would advice those who aren't involved to say that way. That will make things much simpler." Hel chimed in, her cold eyes staring straight into Sindri's.

I watched the dwarf stiffen under the goddess seemingly cold gaze and out of instinct I stepped between them. "She's right Sindri, this is between us."

"R-right, I'll leave you to it then!" Sindri sputtered before he quickly retreated inside the temple.

Once Sindri was out of sight Hel's smile returned and her fighting stance shifted slightly into a lower position with her legs spread wide and her spear angled upward in our direction. "So are you boys going to make a move, or are we doing the whole maidens first thing?"

"Boy on my mark." Father declared as readied himself and began to inch towards the goddess.

As usual father didn't see the need to tell me what he actually wanted me to do on his signal or even what his signal was going to be, but at least I could understand keeping things vague with the enemy in easily in ears reach. I guess I'll just have to go with the usual plan, wing it and hope for the best.

A heartbeat past and my father was moving, his muscles bulging as massive form burst into motion. His legs moving him so fast that it should've been impossible for somebody his size, and that my eyes could barely keep up, but I still forced my feet to follow.

Looking forward, past my father, I saw another blur of motion as Hel made to meet him in the center of the bridge. Her spear thrust forward like an arrow fresh from the bow, the tip aimed up straight for father's heart. Father didn't even try to avoid the spear. Instead he deployed his damaged shield and used it to bat the spear aside causing sparks and small metal bits to fly off as he swung his axe around aiming to carve out a chunk of the goddess' shoulder.

Before father's axe could make contact, Hel vanished once again. This time the goddess appeared directly behind my father, gripping the shaft of her weapon directly below the head of the spear. Quickly swinging the spear around she managed to strike father in the back of the knees causing him to grunt and stumble forward. That gave her just enough time to adjust her grip on the spear and go for a proper strike aimed for father's back.

"Now boy!" Father shouted.

Luckily I had already let my blades fly, one rapped around the butt of the spear preventing its thrust, and the second struck home embedding its burning fangs in the Hel's backside. Apparently the goddess hadn't been expecting it since she cried out in pain.

"Hot, hot, hot! Get it out!" Hel hissed as she frantically reached around her back to yank the blade out, only to cry out again when father spun around and brained her with the back of his axe. The goddess staggered back, gripping the side of her head with one hand and father charged in bringing his axe high up above her head and swinging it down.

Hel reacted quickly, bringing her spear up and gripping it with both hands so she could catch the axe before it cut her in two. "It won't be that easy you bloody bastard!" She spat as she struggled to hold father back. Father grunted with the effort but didn't let up. Instead he pressed down harder, forcing Hel back a few paces before driving a knee up into Hel's gut causing her to sputter.

Hel glared up at father and quickly returned the favor thrusting her knee into his ribs, but father easily shrugged off the blow, and just kept pushing harder. "Back off you damn brute!" She roared before driving her head into the bridge of father's nose causing his head to snap backward. Then she quickly followed it up by lifting both her legs up off the ground and effectively drop kicking father in the groin.

Father grunted loudly as he stumbled back a step and fell down on one knee while Hel was sent flipping backward to land on both feet with another smug smile on her face. A smile I soon tried to wipe off by leaping at her, letting go of both blades in mid air and taking hold of the chains. "Take this!" I roared as I swung the blades down, their flames flaring up and leaving a blazing trail in their wake.

Hel was ready for me this time and quickly spun her spear around to knock aside both the blades, the flames getting blown away like they had been blasted by a storm wind. Then she dashed forward and I could only watch helplessly as she reached up with one hand to pluck me out of the air by the foot and slam me down into the ground so hard I think I felt the ground crack underneath me.

The moment I struck the ground, air rushed out of my lungs as pain exploded in my chest, and from there things were a bit of a blur. I heard my father shout out my name, and I could hear him begin to fight with Hel again somewhere nearby, but I could see none of it. I had my eyes and mouth clenched shut while I tried not to look at the world spinning around me or scream out in agony.

"Lad! Are you alright lad!?" I could hear Mimir's muffled shout from somewhere around my midriff, reminding me that he was still attached to my waist.

"E-everything hurts Mimir!" I sputtered, trying not to bite my tongue in the process.

"I know lad, trust me when I say I know what it feels like to be manhandled by an angry god, but you need to get up!" Mimir declared.

Fighting through the pain I leaned up and cracked my eyes open just in time to see father and Hel hurdling towards me. With a yelp I quickly rolled out the way. It wasn't a second too soon either since father crashed down on the spot I'd just occupied, his body pinned down by Hel's weight while she tried to drive her spear down into his throat.

Suddenly I felt an odd sensation scratching at the back of my mind. It was like somebody was whispering in my ear, though I couldn't make out anything they were saying. Then I felt all my pain subside and all that was left in its place was a burning rage I couldn't quite describe, but I knew it wanted out, and I had not the will to stop it.

"Get off of him!" I roared as felt my body burst into motion. Hel looked up from father to make eye contact with me, and whatever she must've seen must've spooked her since she quickly complied, jumping away from father and raising her weapon in defense. That didn't stop me though. Instead I snapped my arms back and forth, each motion whipping the blades around in wide flaming arcs with Hel in the center of it all.

Much to my annoyance, Hel still did a good job of avoiding and deflecting my attacks, but the look on her face said she was surprised. That was enough for me to keep pushing. I soon started to get a better feel for the blades and began to mix up my attacks more. I was now rapidly switching between flinging the blades straight at her face to swinging them around from the sides.

I also found that I could control the amount of fire each blade released with each attack and I was toying around with that when I saw my father jump in between us. I watched almost in slow motion as father's hand reached out to grab at thin air, only for the handle of Hel's spear to appear there, the blade pointing straight at my chest.

"Damn." Hel hissed as she vanished once again appearing behind father, but father was ready and tried to backhand her. Hel ducked low, narrowly avoiding father's attack and yanked hard on her spear forcing it out of his grip and promptly swinging the back side of it for my head.

"Ah!" I yelped as I quickly raised the blades up to block the spear, but the blow was stronger than I expected, and I was sent stumbling backward. Luckily I managed to maintain my footing and father was able to bat the goddess away and quickly took up a defensive position between the two of us.

"Are you alright Atreus?" Father asked. His usually stoic tone was now full of poorly veiled concern.

Was I? I felt alright now, the pain was still there but it had dolled. However, just as the pain had faded, so too did the strength and anger I felt a moment ago. It left me feeling more than a little drained, but I can't afford to take a break here. "I'm f-fine, just feel a little dizzy."

I could see my father's brows nit together for a second, perhaps seeing through my lie, but all he said was. "Good, now remain focused. This fight isn't over."

"Hey for once I couldn't agree more." Hel chimed in as she slowly maneuvered herself further away from us, her spearhead dragging along the surface of the bridge as she moved in something that resembled a pattern. "In fact I do believe this fight is just getting started."

It was then that Hel raised her spear up with the blade pointing straight down and she thrust into the bridge and a gust of sickly looking winds whipped up around her.

"What is she doing!?" I shouted.

"Be on guard boy!" Father shouted in return.

We both watched with wide eyes as the dark wings spread out along the ground and began to seep over the edges of the bridge down into the frozen lake below. Then I heard the sounds of movement, not from Hel, but from within the winds. It was followed by a deep moaning sound that I'd heard so much now that I couldn't mistake it, and that is when they emerged. It was Draugr, and there were a lot of them.

I watched the undead creatures raise themselves from the darkness like they had been spawned from the winds themselves with weapons already in hand and their eye burning with hate solely reserved for us. Meanwhile more pulled themselves up over the side of the bridge, their bodies damp from the cold waters below, and I could still hear more shambling around below.

"Draugr!" Was about all I found myself able to say.

"She summons them, how?" Father thought allowed.

"She isn't the goddess of Helheim for nothing. Hel has always had an affinity for the dead, she may be able to draw them too her. Also this is just a hunch, but if that spear of hers can truly warp space, then I imagine it wouldn't be an impossible task for her to open a small portal to the underworld and let some of the locals out." Mimir surmised.

"What's wrong, don't tell me you're afraid already?" Hel asked mockingly before she ripped her spear up out of the ground. When she raised her spear, it released four more streaks of wind. Each one flew up into the air around her and they began to swirl together, each condensing down into a sphere that then transformed into a large floating eye with long tendril like appendages hanging down from it. "Because this Nightmare has only just begun."

Kratos

Hel hadn't just called upon Draugr, but she had summoned Nightmares as well. While the small creatures weren't very threatening on their own, they could be troublesome when mixed in with large numbers of Draugr. I'd like to pick those off first, but they didn't seem interested in approaching. Instead they seemed content to circle around Hel while taking turns firing off magical blasts from their eyes.

Since I can't trust in my shield, I've had to stay on the move to avoid those. Unfortunately I also couldn't close the distance since the Draugr had used the distraction to close in around me. These creatures don't usually employ such tactics. So it seemed the head's words about Hel's control over the dead at least held some truth to them. It is inconvenient, but manageable.

The fact that the goddess keeps her distance now only proves that lacks the confidence to face me melee combat again. So once I get in close this should be over quickly. The only issue was the boy. Atreus is currently stood behind me covering my back like he usually does, but he had an odd air to him. He seemed winded yet restless, perhaps it was just fatigue. He wasn't use to wielding the blades and they could take a toll. It was hard to be certain though.

This was after all only the second time I've seen Atreus tap into his godhood, and that still worried me. After all the first time he accessed it while we were delving into the temple below, it nearly kill him. Luckily the boy at least seemed to be holding up better than he did then. Perhaps because he now knew the truth regarding his heritage, or maybe his body has just matured over the last three years. Regardless of the reason I will just have to hope that it is enough.

"What's the matter big guy, don't you want a piece of me!?" Hel taunted from behind her wall of decayed warriors. "I'm right here!"

"You talk too much!" I spat in return before glancing back at my boy and nodding my head towards the mass before us to let him know we would be moving. He gave a nod in return and I rushed forward and the horde charged forward to meet me.

With a roar I raised my axe high to carve deep into the first enemy before me. When the second and the third moved around to strike at me, they were both impaled by a set of flaming blades before being yanked away. I didn't bother to turn and see what became of them since I was confident Atreus could handle such Draugr on his own.

Stepping over the body of my first foe I was met by seven more. Four in front each wielding sword and shield and three behind equipped with spears. With Draugr in the front holding their shields high and the spearmen sticking behind them with the tips of their weapons positioned in between them, group formed something akin to a phalanx formation.

It was somehow amusing to see creatures use such tactics when it was clear they didn't fully understand them. Reading my axe I activated one of the many runes etched into the blade causing it to surge with energy. Energy I then released straight into the center of the formation causing it to erupt in a flurry of ice that could chill a mortal man to the bone in an instant.

Two of the shield bearers and one of the spearmen were felled immediately while the others were blown aside and their formation was only able to hold due to another wave of enemies moving forward to take their place.

I wasn't done however. Before the enemies could fully right themselves I took aim with my axe and flung it behind the enemy line straight into the face of one of the spearmen. As the spear wielder began to fall backward, I reached out to my axe to pull it back, the butt of the blade straight one of the shield bearers in the back of the head in the process.

When the shield bearer stumbled forward out of his position, I charged forward to cleave his head from his shoulders, and then I kept moving. Pushing into the center of the mass, I was met with the head of a spear being thrust towards my head which I easily deflected before striking down the attacker for their trouble.

From their the battle descended into a melee, with foes striking at random, and practically throwing themselves on top of me in an attempt to slow me down. Still through it all, I made sure not to lose sight of my true opponent.

The goddess Hel was moving along the edge of the battle, watching and waiting. She didn't seem to be in any hurry to attack herself, perhaps it was because more of her Draugr were still coming, and she simply wished to wear us down.

Meanwhile Hel's nightmares still hovered close to her, though at least they no longer tried to fire at me. It was most likely in an effort to avoid friendly fire with so many of her undead allies surrounding me. Still her eyes were squally focused on me, only wondering every few moments to glance in the boy's direction, but he was too busy with his he own foes to be a concern.

It was far more worrying for us though, since Atreus and I were cut off from each other. Even if I could fight my way through the mass to reach the boy, I wouldn't be able to match Hel's speed. I'll need to end this before she thinks to try it.

"What's the matter Spartan, you seem distracted? Is it really wise to lose focus at a time like this?" Hel taunted and to illustrate her point all four of the Nightmares around her unleash a magical blast in my direction.

Moving on instinct I reached out with my axe hooking the nearest Draugr by the head, before I spun and hurled the creature up over the crowd and directly into the path of the Nightmare's attack. When the undead was struck, its body erupted in a ball of fire, and smoldering flesh and ash rained down like snow.

Meanwhile the other Draugr undeterred by the loss began to charge in from all sides. The monsters practically throwing themselves at me in an attempt to smother me under their way, and I met each one of them with the blade of my axe or the heel's of my boots.

I sent many flying back over the edge of the bridge, and into the frozen depths that had spawned them. While others I simply cut down and left in crumbled heaps at my feet. Many came, and many fell, but still more kept coming. It was becoming taxing.

Looking back for a moment caught sight of Atreus slam the Blades of Chaos into ground and sending waves of sinister fire in every direction, igniting nearly a dozen Draugr. His skill with the blades is improving quickly, the fact should be worrying, but for now that was good. At this point most of the undead had converged on me, leaving the boy to cut down our foes at his leisure. That was also good, because it meant we had an opportunity.

"Boy! Clear the path!" I yelled.

Atreus' eyes immediately shot forward, first looking at me, then to the Draugr surrounding me, and finally they gazed past us to lock eyes with Hel. Both their eyes narrowed and without hesitation Atreus drew out his bow, charged forward, and leapt up into the air.

"Fálki Liõ!" Atreus yelled as he loosed let loose a volley of light arrows that quickly morphed into the shape of falcons in mid flight only to dive bomb straight into the center of the mass. Each falcon erupted on impact, blowing rotting bodies apart, and splintering their rusted armaments. By the time the dust cleared, a narrow gap had formed in the space between me and the goddess.

"Well done boy!" I yellowed as I surged forward smashing straight through the Draugr as they tried to swarm back in to block my path.

The moment I cleared the mass, magical blasts began to rain down around me blowing singing my skin and blowing away many of my pursuers. Knowing it was the work of the Nightmares I began to dodge back and forth in an attempt to throw off their aim. Only for my eyes to catch the glint of a flying spear head, and a second before it could strike my chest, deflected it off my axe.

The spear flew up in the air and the world around it glimmered as Hel jumped threw space to bring it back down on me. Bringing my axe back up I managed to catch her strike and we briefly became locked in place allowing Hel to lean in and speak.

"Come on old man, letting your little boy do all the heavy lifting now are we!? Don't tell me a few Draugr are too much for the Ghost of Sparta!? Hel practically spat.

"Those are tall words for a coward who can't do their own dirty work! I guess it is true what they say, the weakest dog always barks the loudest!" I retorted before thrusting my head forward striking the goddess in the nose and sending her reeling back. While she stumbled, I tired to take off her head, but she had released tossed her spear to the side and flickered out of sight.

Spinning on my heels I found Hel hunched over by her horde of Draugr, one hand gripping her spear and using it to prop herself up, while the other messaged her now bleeding nose. To my surprise she actually began to laugh. The laugh echoed over the bridge growing louder and colder and once she finally calmed herself, she began to speak once again. "I'm a coward am I? Ha, well I guess I can't really dispute that, but that is just the world we live in. The strong rule on high far away from the troubles and tribulations of the world below while the weak wither and die, huddled in their hiding places feeding on scraps."

I couldn't say I was very surprised to hear such horrid words from a god. Especially one of Odin's ilk, but still the words felt hollow to my ears, and so I had to ask in return. "And is that what you truly believe?"

Hel scoffed at the question. "Does it matter?! Does anything I say or feel matter here!? Don't you get it Spartan!? It doesn't matter if either of us likes the way things are. Nor does it matter how much you try to fight it, because your end is inevitable. Even if it is not by me then it will simply be by another. However if your death were to come at my hand, it would at least have some meaning. So could you do me this one small favor and just lie down and die already!?"

To punctuate the finality of her words Hel twirled her spear and called back all of her Nightmares, each one flying straight into her body to vanish within her armor. With each new Nightmare added to the fold a sickly green aura appeared and grew around the goddess, and the moment the forth joined her she became a blur carried on the winds.

Hel's movement was not instantaneous like it had been before, but to a morals eyes I imagine the difference would've been unperceivable. She moved like a bolt of lighting, cutting across the distance between us so quickly that even Hermes would've been humbled. I had no time to dodge or block, instead all I managed was to brace as the goddess pushed past my guard and drove the head of her spear straight through my chest not only forcing the air from my lungs, but my weapon from my hand, and the ground out from under my feet.

Hel didn't stop her charge there however, with my stance broken she pressed her advantage, and I soon felt myself being lifted up off the ground and pushed backward toward the edge of the bridge. Wanting to regain some control I took hold of the spear shaft with both hands and tried to replant my feet. Hel responded by twisting the spear in my gut and pushed even harder putting all her weight behind it, and before I could respond again I felt my back get pressed against the edge of the bridge.

I had to grit my teeth to prevent my body from spasming and remove one of my hands from Hel's spear to grasp the edge of the bridge to prevent falling over. By this point I was staring the goddess directly in her good eye, an eye that looked both feral and desperate, and it gave off and unnatural glow.

"Not feeling so confident now are you mongrel!?" Hel roared as she tried to readjust herself so she could force me up over the bridges railing.

I couldn't say that I was, but I couldn't afford to lose here, and simply holding off Hel's attack was not a winning strategy. So I released Hel's weapon allowing it to burrow deeper, surprising the goddess enough to give her pause, and I used the chance to reach out call my weapon back to me.

The Leviathan quickly responded to my call shooting up from the ground from which it lie and spinning toward us, beheading a hapless Draugr in rout before striking Hel square in the back. The suddenly blow caused the goddess to wail in surprise and stumble forward on top of me, ironically becoming the tipping point that sent us both tumbling down over the side and into the icy waters below.

Atreus

"Father!" I screamed as I watched him get impaled and dragged off the edge of the bridge. I wanted to give chase, but the Draugr were still everywhere, and as annoyingly persistent as ever. "Get out of my way!" I roared as I swung father's blades back and forth in wide sweeping motions, trying to quickly cut down as many as I could.

Unfortunately all of my efforts seemed wasted. Even with Hel out of sight, the undead still continued to come in droves, and seemed eerily focused on making my life difficult. In fact it felt even worse than before since now father was around to keep their attention. Perhaps if I could at least use my bow properly this wouldn't be so bad, but each time I draw the string the cracks just get worse and worse. I feel like if I used it one more time I'd just snap the thing in half.

So with few other options I just kept swinging, stabbing, and burning my way threw the Draugr horde. It was slow going, even without taking any time to catch my breath, but eventually I reached the edge of the bridge where father and Hel had fallen.

Not wanting to take my eyes off my enemies I turned my butt towards the water as asked Mimir. "Mimir, do you see them!? Is father alright!?"

Mimir hummed for a moment as he likely tried to take in the scene. "I don't know lad, there is certainly some movement down there, but there is too much ice to tell what is happening below!"

"Wait their under the ice!?" I found myself asking.

"Aye, the waters are also quite choppy. So it looks like their still going at it down there. Ha, at least that means your father is still kicking and hopefully kicking Hel's ass while he's at it." Mimir replied.

Now I found myself silently wondering if they could really be fighting under water. God or not I'm fairly sure they still needed to breathe. At least I know I did… Or did I? I never actually thought to try not breathing. Mom would usually call something like that a profoundly dumb idea, and while she wasn't human, she was still a mortal. So the same rules may not apply. Something to think about later I suppose, for now I need a way to help father.

"What do we do now Mimir!?" I asked.

"Got me lad, I'm already dead some I'm not really worried about a cold dip, but I don't really know how much help we'd be down there. Fire daggers and arrows aren't really well suited to aquatic combat. There is al… watch out lad!" Mimir reasoned before being interrupted by a particularly large Draugr wielding a maul tried to smash my head in.

"I see him!" I declared as I dunked under the swinging maul and diving between the undead creature's legs. On the way I made sure to dig father's blades into its thighs practically cutting their legs in half. The sudden loss of balance caused the creature to stumble forward and over the edge of the bridge sending it to plummet down into the water cold waters where Hel and father still fought. "As you were saying Mimir?"

"Ah right, as I was saying there is also another daunting issue we need to address. What're we going to do about all of these bloody Draugr? Putting aside the obvious problems they pose in regards to us getting out of this alive. Even if we manage to defeat Hel, there is no certainty that they will disperse, and I doubt the Dwarves will take kindly to us leaving these things at their doorstep." Mimir pointed out.

I couldn't help the wince at the thought of Brok and Sindri being left alone to fend off a horde of Draugr. "Yeah that would be kind of bad, but what do we do about it. I'm killing them as fast as I can here!" I declared.

Then to drive home my point, I thrust one of my blades into the throat of a nearby Draugr only to rip it out and throw it into the chest of another. The magical flames of the blade quickly ignited the rotten flesh causing the creature to shrike and flail wildly before ultimately crumbling to ash. Still even as the two fell, three more came to take their place without any signs of fear or hesitation.

Mimir hummed in thought for a moment before finally answering. "Aye that is the big question isn't it. Honestly lad, I don't think we can pull this one off on our own, we need some help."

"You want to ask for help? Who is going to help us?" I asked feeling skeptical. Since this whole mess was the god's doing, divine interventions was unlikely, and about the only other people we knew were Brok, Sindri, and Freya. Brok and Sindri were close by, but they weren't fighters, and something told me Freya wouldn't be too keen on helping us out of this mess.

"Jörmungandr lad, the horn is within our reach, we could use it to call the World Serpent!" Mimir replied.

"Oh yeah, I'd nearly forgotten about the horn!" I declared before looking up towards the platform the massive instrument was placed. It looked to still be in working order despite the harshness of three consecutive winters and the battle playing out right below it. However, there was one minor issue. "Wait, the World Serpent isn't even here. Will he even hear it if we call?"

"I'm sure he will lad. This is after all no normal horn. If my memory serves, both the Dwarves and the Giants aided in its construction and its mighty bellow can be heard from halfway across Midgard." Mimir explained.

Well I supposed if Mimir was that certain there was no reason for me to doubt. Now the only problem was getting to the horn in one piece. The Draugr for their part didn't seem at all interested in stepping aside for me. Luckily I was smaller and far more nimble than them allowing me to slip in between their ranks. Ducking and weaving out past them and their attacks, while slipping my blades into any soft spots that presented themselves.

As I slowly pushed my way toward the horn's elevator my arms began to ache. The still unfamiliar weight of the blades was starting to take its toll with each consecutive swing, but I knew I couldn't stop, the Draugr were just too relentless.

My body felt hot, and it didn't feel like it was just from the blades, this heat came from deeper within. What it was I wasn't sure and my head was throbbing too much to think on it. In the distance I heard something akin to cracking ice, clashing steel, and one of my father's famous war cries, but I couldn't turn back to look new. I had to focus at the task at hand.

Finally reaching the elevator I didn't even bother to clear any Draugr off before I delivered a kick to the control mechanism causing the elevator to immediately engage. Now with us off the ground I began to lash out at all the Draugr that had hitched a ride with me, taking them all out just before I reached the top.

"We made it brother!" Mimir cheered.

"Y-yeah," I said taking a moment to catch my breath. Only to be interrupted by the sound of screeching and fire balls flying by over head. "D-doesn't look like it will stay that way for long though!" I declared before quickly stumbling over to the mouth of the horn and drawing Mimir from my belt. "You got this right?"

"You can leave it to me!" Mimir promised.

"Alright, let's hope this works!" I declared as I pressed Mimir up to the mouthpiece and he blow with all his might, causing the horn echo it far into the distance, the sound vibrating the ground and shaking the snow off the mountain tops.

Then for one brief moment there was silence. A silence not even the Draugr below could break. As the silence dragged out I began to feel my panic mount and my eyes started to frantically scan the horizon for movement, but I could find none. "He isn't coming is he?" I asked.

"I, I don't know lad, this has never happened before, I'm sor…" Mimir's apology died on his tongue as the ground violently began to shake anew and a powerful roar cut through the silence causing my ears to ring. "The World Serpent, he's close!"

"Yeah, but where is he, I still don't see him!?" I asked as I continued my search for the great slithering mass. And while I could see him, the Serpents roars just kept growing louder and louder until finally a mighty crash echoed from somewhere below the lake of the nine and my vision was suddenly filled with water.

End Notes: Thanks so much for reading, I really hoped you enjoyed it and I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially about Hel's character since I really wanted to get her right. So even if you didn't like this chapter I'd still love to hear your thoughts in the reviews.