Matt replayed Skull's words. He'd misunderstood. He must have. He could believe Fen stole the shield-this whole thing had started when he'd caught Fen trying to swipe it-but delivering the champion? Matt couldn't believe that. It must be a trick.

It's not. That's why he agreed with Astrid about getting your stuff. That's why he didn't want to come into camp with you. He wasn't helping get the shield; he was turning you over to the Raiders.

Baldwin stepped forward. "If you want him, you have to go through me first."

Matt heard a noise behind him. He turned, but too late. A half dozen of the Raiders were running at him. He took out the first with a left hook as Baldwin raced in, fists flying.

"Ignore blondie!" Skull called. "You can't hurt him, so don't bother trying."

Matt hit another Raider and sent him flying, but as he did, at least four others tackled him from behind. They swarmed over him, forcing him to the ground as he kicked and punched. Baldwin tried to pry the Raiders off Matt, but they'd just backhand him or elbow him away, which only made him madder, fighting like a whirlwind, yelling, "What about me? Hey, you, zit-face, come on! I thought you guys were Viking warriors! Fight me!"

When one finally swung around, as if ready to take Baldwin up on that, Skull shouted, "I said ignore blondie. He's Balder. Can't be hurt unless you have some mistletoe handy. Just keep swatting him off like the annoying little fly he is."

That made Baldwin furious, and he fought so hard that Skull finally ordered a few of the Raiders to grab him and pin him down. Matt was already pinned. Lying on his back, spread-eagle, a Raider holding down every limb, a fifth one sitting on his chest. He'd struggled at first, but realized they had him and stopped, conserving his energy and waiting for his chance.

"Get him up," Skull ordered.

The Raiders obeyed. They dragged Matt to his feet, two holding each arm. Matt felt his amulet, red-hot against his chest, and knew it was charged up, ready to go. But for what? He could take out one guy. That wouldn't stop the other dozen standing around. He needed a better plan. A smarter plan.

"Now, where's my shield?" Skull said.

A Raider had taken it from Matt's back before they'd pinned him. The kid held it up.

"Put it in my tent."

The Raider did as he was told. When he'd disappeared into the tent, Skull strolled toward Matt.

"There's someone you need to meet," he said. "But first I think you need a lesson about stealing."

Skull's gaze dropped to Matt's stomach, and Matt knew what was coming. A blow to the solar plexus against a defenseless target. Except Matt wasn't defenseless. He readied his Hammer as he watched Skull, ready to launch it as soon as he pulled back for- Someone hit Matt from behind. A hard, fast hit to the kidney that sent pain jolting through him. He twisted to see the girl-Hattie-grinning. Then another blow, this one from the front, the hit he'd been waiting for. Straight to the solar plexus. The air flew from Matt's lungs, and he doubled over, wheezing and hacking.

"Hey, Skull!" Baldwin shouted, struggling against the Raiders holding him. "What kind of name is that, anyway. Do you think it makes you seem tough? It better work with these guys, because you need all the help you can get, loser."

Skull slowly turned on Baldwin.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Baldwin shouted. "The loser who won't even take a swing at Thor's kid unless four guys are holding him down. You call yourself a Viking Raider? The Vikings wouldn't have let you clean their toilets. You won't even fight Matt without help from your girlfriend there. I can see where she comes in handy, though. One look from that ugly face and guys probably run before you need to hit them, right?"

Hattie advanced on Baldwin.

"I said to ignore him," Skull said. "You can't hurt him."

Hattie punched Baldwin in the stomach, making him cough. "Maybe not, but it makes me feel better."

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" Baldwin said as he caught his breath and bounced back, grinning. "Do you turn into a wolf, too? I bet you don't. You don't need to. You're already a dog."

Hattie hit him. Matt winced and wanted to tell Baldwin to stop, but reminded himself that Baldwin couldn't feel it, couldn't be hurt. If Baldwin could draw off Hattie and Skull with insults...

"Enough!" Skull roared. "You want to hit someone? Get back here and hit Thorsen. I bet blondie will feel that."

Skull advanced on Matt again. When he pulled back his fist, Matt launched his Hammer. It knocked Skull to the ground, flat on his back. He scrambled up, face twisted in rage.

"You little brat," he said, charging Matt. "I'll teach you not to-"

Fog swirled between them, so thick Matt couldn't see Skull, could only hear him cursing as he fought his way through it. Matt stared at the fog. Had he done that? He did get a few wisps with his Hammer, but this was like smoke from a raging bonfire, spreading over the camp so fast- Don't just stare at it. Use it!

Matt realized the holds on his arms had slackened, and when he looked over, he saw that the Raiders holding them were gaping into the fog themselves. He yanked one arm free easily, then swung and plowed his fist into the jaw of one guy holding the other. The guy flew back and knocked over the Raider next to him, the two falling like bowling pins.

Matt dove into the fog, the gray wrapping around him, everything else disappearing. He heard a grunt to his left and turned to see a Raider girl charging him, knife raised. Something hit her from behind, and she fell face-first, Fen on her back. Fen plucked the switchblade from her hand, folded it into his pocket, and leaped up.

"Come on, Thorsen," Fen said.

Matt didn't move.

"I'm rescuing you," Fen said. "Again. Don't make me regret it. Come on."

Matt backed away.

"What the-?" Fen began.

A Raider leaped through the fog. Just a kid. Matt took him down. Then Fen grabbed his sleeve.

"We need to go," Fen urged. "The twins can't hold the fog forever."

Matt paused. "That's them?"

"No, it's natural. Just does that out here." Fen sighed in that annoying way of his before adding, "Yeah, it's them."

Matt hesitated. His brain said he shouldn't trust Fen, but he did. He just did.

He took a deep breath. "Okay. Is Laurie safe?"

Fen's face darkened, and Matt felt a stab of annoyance. Fen seemed to hate it when Matt worried about her. Did he think Matt had a thing for Laurie? He'd set him straight on that later. Maybe Fen's world was different, but in Matt's, you could have a girl as a friend without thinking of her as a girlfriend.

" 'Course she's okay," Fen snapped. "I take care of her."

And so do I, Matt wanted to say. But he knew better.

"Okay, we need to get Baldwin and-"

"Got him," said a voice. Laurie appeared with Baldwin beside her.

Fen scowled. "I thought I told you to stay-"

"Yeah." Laurie rolled her eyes. "And someday you'll learn that I don't always-"

Two Raiders lunged from the fog. Matt took out one. Baldwin and Fen nearly knocked heads going for the other. A right hook from Fen sent the Raider back into the fog with Matt's.

A growl sounded somewhere in the fog, another joining it.

"I need to get the shield," Matt said.

"What?" Fen said. "All this and you don't have it?"

"They took it back," Baldwin said.

"I'll grab it," Matt said. "Laurie, open a door. Take the others through. I'll follow."

Laurie said nothing, and Matt peered through the thin curtain of fog between them. "Laurie?"

"That's what I've been trying to do," she said. "Open a door. I can't."

"Okay." Matt took a deep breath. "Um, I'll get the shield. You guys just... go back to where you were hiding before."

"Can I go with you?" Baldwin asked Matt.

"Fen?" Laurie said. "I want you to go with Matt."

"No. I'm making sure you get back-"

"Go with Matt. Please. If they're changing to wolves, you need to do that and stay with Matt." She stared directly at her cousin. "I'm going to catch my breath and open a door for us. Baldwin will be with me."

Fen seemed to realize there wasn't time for arguing. He nodded and gruffly told Baldwin to watch out for Laurie. Baldwin promised he would, and they slipped off into the fog. Fen went away, too, leaving Matt to fend off a Raider before returning in wolf form and quickly dispatching another.

They made their way to Skull's tent. Matt had no idea where to even find it in the fog, but Fen must have been able to smell it. Matt wondered if the Raider would have put the shield somewhere else, but as he followed Fen, he could feel his amulet's tingle, telling him they weren't quite that bright. The shield was still in Skull's tent.

Matt emerged from the gray to see the tent... and two hulking Raiders standing guard.

The bigger one grinned. "Skull said you wouldn't leave without getting what you came for." He raised his voice. "Hey, Sk-"

Before he finished the word, Matt hit him with the same blow Skull had used on him-straight to the solar plexus. Never anything he'd use in a fair fight, but this wasn't fair. And it shut the guy up fast. Before the second one could raise the alarm, Fen burst from the fog and took him down. Then he snapped at Matt, and Matt didn't need a canine translator to tell him what Fen had said. Get your butt in that tent and grab the shield.

Matt found the shield right where it had been the last time-under the blankets. He didn't heft it over his shoulder; he held it the way it should be held, protecting his body as he stepped out. He was just letting the flap fall behind him when a small Raider came charging from the fog. As if instinctively, Matt raised the shield... and the kid plowed into it headfirst and staggered back, dazed.

Matt motioned for Fen to follow him into the fog, but Fen motioned back, jerking his muzzle from the shield to the kid. Telling Matt to bash the guy again. Matt looked at the kid-maybe eleven-holding his head and blinking hard, and when he thought of hitting him again, he felt a little sick. He might have come a long way in a few days-he had no problem hitting a little kid or a girl if he had to-but that was too much.

He shook his head. When Fen started to lunge at the dazed kid, Matt grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Fen snarled and snapped, then snorted, yanked free from Matt's grip, and ran into the fog. Matt followed.

They'd barely gone three steps before the kid shouted, "They're here! By Skull's tent! They have the shield!"

Fen growled back at Matt, as if to say That's what I was afraid of, but didn't slow down. It was okay anyway. They were deep in the fog, and as long as they kept running away from the camp...

Matt caught a glimpse of a dark shape to his right. He turned to hit his attacker, only to realize the guy was about twenty feet away, running in the other direction. There were more shapes around him, some in human form, some in wolf. The fog was lifting.

Of course it was. It wasn't smart to split up any more than they had already, so Ray and Reyna would have gone back through the doorway with Laurie. There wasn't anyone casting the spell.

At least the Raiders were running in the opposite- "There!" a girl shouted.

Matt and Fen sped up. As they did, Matt mentally calculated how many he'd seen. Four Raiders and two wolves, he thought. None were bigger than him. Maybe they could fight before others joined- He glanced back to see at least nine shapes, two more appearing from the left. Okay, not stopping to fight, then.

"Fen!" It was Laurie's voice from somewhere ahead. "Matt! I've got it. The door is open!"

"Go through!" Matt shouted back. "We're coming!"

"I'll get the others through and hold it open!" Laurie called.

"No! We've got Raiders!" Matt glanced back at the growing mob behind him. Two wolves were leading the pack, closing the gap. "And wolves! Get through!"

Silence. Was she going to listen? Or would she think he was exaggerating? Wanting her out of harm's way because she was a girl? A week ago, he'd have done that, but he'd come to realize Laurie was pretty good at taking care of herself. She might not be big, and she might not be able to turn into a wolf or launch Thor's Hammer, but she was smart.

The problem was that he'd given her the You're a girl-we must protect you line so many times that when there was real danger, like now, she might not believe him. It was like the little boy who cried wolf-he glanced back to see the two big canines almost at his heels now-or wolves.

Go through the door, Laurie. Please just go through the door.

Ahead he could see the clearing. And in the middle of it, a shimmering circle of color-the door. There was someone standing outside of it. A figure barely distinguishable through the last veil of fog.

"Laurie!" Matt shouted. "Jump through-"

"It's me!" Baldwin called. "I stayed to help fight in case this thing closes-" He looked behind them, and his eyes rounded. "Whoa!"

Matt couldn't help chuckling as he ran. "Go through. We're right behind you."

Baldwin waited until they were there. Then, with Fen, they dove through together. They hit the other side, tumbling together, Matt catching a claw scrape across his arm, Fen letting out a grunt as Baldwin's foot connected with his stomach. They lay there for a second, catching their breath, until Matt heard Laurie say, "Um, guys..." He looked up to see the door gone. And in its place? Two very confused wolves were sitting in Baldwin's backyard.

"How do you like that trick?" Laurie said to the wolves. "Maybe I can't change into a big, hairy monster, but you have to admit, that is cool. And useful."

The wolves started, as if just realizing they weren't alone. They looked from face to face. One bolted, racing across the yard and vaulting the back fence. The other growled, fur rising, head down. But after another sweep of the seven faces in front of him, he turned tail, too.

"Grab him!" Matt shouted as he launched himself onto the wolf's back.

Baldwin let out a whoop and grabbed the wolf by the tail. The wolf spun and dislodged Matt, but he grabbed a handful of fur with one hand. Then Matt twisted and clocked the wolf on the top of the muzzle. It was a trick his dad taught him for dealing with strays or coyotes. The wolf let out a yelp of pain. With both hands holding on now, Matt dropped over the wolf's side and yanked the beast down. It didn't stay down, but after some wrestling-with help from Baldwin-Matt got the wolf pinned. Then Baldwin sat on it, grinning like a big-game hunter. Astrid laughed. Even Ray and Reyna smiled at the sight.

Fen walked from behind the shed. He was in human form and shaking his head.

"Yes, I know," Matt said. "I keep attacking things that can kill me. It is kinda fun, though."

Baldwin grinned. "See, I'm not crazy."

"Yeah, you are," Fen said. "Thorsen's just the same kind of crazy. I guess we should be happy you two didn't try taking on the whole Raider camp yourselves."

"We were working on it," Baldwin said. "But you totally ruined our fun. Spoilsport."

Fen rolled his eyes. Then he pointed at the wolf. "What's with the captive?"

Matt looked at the captive Raider, and when he did, he felt like letting out a whoop of his own. He didn't, of course. That wasn't very leaderlike. But he still felt that whoop deep in his gut. The sweet thrill of success.

We did it. We got the shield. We got the descendants. We're close to getting Odin, and he'll help us with the rest. We did it, and I led the charge, and I didn't screw things up. I made mistakes, but I learned from them.

I can do this. I really can do this.