Brandt sighed heavily and shrugged.

"Can't say I want to, but if I had to, yeah, sure, I'll put her down quick and painless."

"Good," Jason said. "Cause I have to be honest...I couldn't. Maria's on the other side. Head over there and wait for Sophia to come through. If she gets to that side fine, I want you to go through first back to the hallway and wait again for her. If everything goes ok, the rest of us will make the trip."

Orders given, Brandt entered the bridge and disappeared from sight.

Sophia waited a moment, then took a deep breath, straightened her back, and marched into the bridge.

The first time she'd crossed from one world to another, she'd been unconscious. She'd tried to sound brave and confident her father had brought her via a bridge like this one, but she had no idea. He'd explained to her afterward he brought her to Asgard to keep her safe. Knowing what she did now, she supposed they had done it after losing the Sophia from Gwynn's world. After all, if herself and the other her were the only remaining oracles, it made sense they'd want to safeguard one if the other died. Still, she found very quickly it was her talents they wanted to protect, not her. There was little effort to make her comfortable. On the contrary, they'd dosed her with different drugs to try and induce more visions. At one point, she thought she might go mad. And then Pridament rescued her. And because of that, she'd met Gwynn.

They hadn't known each other long. And it was possible he just saw her as a replacement for the girl he'd lost. But she couldn't deny a comfort between them-a sense of belonging. Being with Gwynn required no effort. Even in the direst of moments, she felt safe when he was close. If this failed, she hoped he would forgive her. But she was tired of being a bird in a cage. Even if this was the last time, she wanted to spread her wings and decide her own fate.

Her skin tingled like being exposed to a cold mist. It clung to her body, forcing her to suppress a shudder. She closed her eyes for only a moment, while her feet took another step forward.

The sensation of cold melted away beneath a cheerful warmth. She opened her eyes to see a radiant sun above her. Lush green gra.s.s carpeted a landscape of gently rolling hills. In the distance, a forest loomed, that seemed to go on forever beyond.

Brandt stood about ten feet in front of her. Next to him stood the girl, Marie, who'd plunged into the bridge first. They both were giving her a cautious eye.

"How do you feel?" Brandt asked.

She closed her eyes once more, turning her face up toward the sun. She'd spent months trapped in the halls of Valhalla, and the rest of the time since in the underground hovels of Fenrir. Her mouth filled with the freshness of spring awakening.

"I feel...wonderful," she replied.

Brandt leaned closer to Marie.

"Do you remember how long it took the guy in Kansas?"

"Longer than this," she answered.

Brandt took several long, slow, strides toward her. He circled her, letting his eyes crawl along her form. It wasn't lecherous, but it still made her feel uncomfortable.

Brandt strode to Marie and shrugged.

"Well, I don't see anything to worry about. I'll go through first and meet you on the other side, just to make sure."

"Fine," Sophia said.

Just as Marie said, the hall sat in the middle of the field, floor, walls, ceiling. Brandt walked to the opposite side Sophia had exited from and disappeared from sight. Sophia felt a pang in her chest. She didn't want to leave. Was there any reason worth returning to Asgard? If Gwynn would just wake up, maybe she could convince him to stay too. She didn't know much about farming or living a simple life, but the wondrous air and healing sunshine had her willing to try.

"You saw what you need to do, right?" Marie said, her lack of patience obvious.

Sophia nodded and went around to the other side and entered. Again, the cold brushed over her skin. She came out in the hall of Valhalla, on the opposite side of the bridge. Brandt waited for her.

"Did Marie keep you a little longer just to make sure?" he asked.

"No," Sophia shook her head sheepishly, "it just was too nice to leave right away."

"She seems to have made it through fine," Brandt yelled to the others over her shoulder.

"Ok," Jason responded. "We'll send a Fenrir man over next."

One of the men approached and disappeared into the gate.

A minute pa.s.sed.

Then another.

Still, the man did not appear.

"s.h.i.t," Brandt cursed, and dashed into the bridge.

"Jason," Sophia yelled, "he didn't come through. Brandt's gone back in to see what's happening."

His reply was stern and left no room for argument.

"Do not move from that spot."

Katsuro ran into the bridge while Jason told everyone on their side to back away.

Another few tense moments pa.s.sed. Sophia had almost convinced herself to disobey Jason's order and go back through the bridge when a distorted arm shot out of the bridge, clutching the front of her shirt.

"Jason!"

The arm dragged her toward the bridge. She dug in her heels and pounded at the hand.

I should've taken a weapon.

"Caelum, get in there," Jason yelled.

A moment later, another ma.s.sive hand emerged from the bridge-more human-like but encased in a metallic, spiked, gauntlet with fiery magma showing in the joints.

Snap!

The distorted arm cracked and shifted to an odd angle. Sophia gave another tug and tumbled to the ground, crab scuttling backward from the bridge.

She stayed there, her chest heaving with each breath-though even those gasps didn't seem to fill her lungs.

A few minutes later, Brandt exited in front of her.

Blood spattered his hands, shirt, and face.

"He...didn't make it, did he?"

The question sounded so stupid-the answer obvious-once the words left her lips, but she couldn't contain them. Putting the words out to the world, having them firmly answered, made it real. As much as she didn't want it to be real, she needed to know-to feel the solidity of the thing.

Brandt wouldn't meet her eyes. He just shook his head and searched for a clean patch of clothing to wipe off his hands.

III.

Katsuro exited the bridge.

"Are you all right? Where are the others?" Jason asked.

Katsuro's eyes made it clear he was anything but all right.

"Brandt is on the other side with Sophia," he nodded over his shoulder. "Caelum is with Marie. She needed some tending to, but he a.s.sures me she'll be fine. My man..."

Katsuro's head hung low. Especially when his eyes for a moment met those of the remaining non-Anunnaki member of their team.

"I don't understand," Jackson said. "Sophia made it through fine."

Katsuro gave a dry chuckle.

"Fine? Marie made it sound like the girl was positively daydreaming, she enjoyed herself so much."

"So what went wrong?" Jason asked.

Pridament frowned at the bridge.

"What indeed..." his face fell, color draining from his cheeks. "My G.o.d, of course. Oh, how could I have been so stupid?"

"Would you like to share with the rest of the cla.s.s?" Katsuro asked.

Pridament closed his eyes a moment, slowing his breath, collecting his thoughts and thinking through his words.

"Sophia isn't technically just a human. She's an oracle. And not just any oracle, but a descendant of Delphi. They weren't Anunnaki per se, but the Veil did touch them. She has a glyph on the back of her neck at her hairline. Maybe it was enough difference to protect her."

"So there's no way for me to cross without becoming some kind of...monster?" the Fenrir soldier asked.

"We'll think of something," Katsuro said.

"What else is there, sir? The only one of you with the power to move rock says they fortified this place against it."

"Listen, Thomas, we'll come up with a solution. We just need to think it through."

Thomas. Hearing the man's name made Jason's stomach sink-he hadn't even bothered to learn the man's name. Was that what he did now, become so emotionally detached he didn't bother to learn people's names unless it was necessary? This man was being handed a death sentence, and knowing his name, Thomas, made it more real.

"Brandt," Jason called. "Over or under?"

Brandt just shook his head remorsefully.

"s.h.i.t. It's like he knew. Like he built this place to protect against our abilities."

Katsuro's laugh was humorless.

"Of course he knew. He's been alive for centuries and probably seen every ability an Anunnaki can have. This place was built to withstand them all. He's always been a step ahead, always thinking through different angles. Even our bringing Gwynn here played into his plans."

Yes, he knew all their powers-he'd overseen their upbringings. But did he really construct Asgard to defend against unknown Anunnaki, or did he always suspect his young wards would turn against him? What could he be planning that would make them hate him so much? Or rather, what had he planned-because based on how easily Brandt, Marie, and Jackson took to the idea of Woten being evil, something already happened.

"Jason!"

He'd been so lost in his thoughts, so focused on saving a human life, he'd forgotten exactly where they were. No, that wasn't true, he could never forget where they were, but he'd forgotten the obstacle in their way may be the only thing keeping their aggressors away. And in their experimentation, they'd left two of their members-one of whom was the weakest fighter-alone in enemy territory.

Stone from the walls cracked and snapped like bone as Brandt used his powers to pull chunks free. He sent them hurtling forward, splintering into bullet sized shards of stone, shredding the first unfortunate souls who moved against him and Sophia.

"I think you've run out of time to try and help me," Thomas said. "You'll be sure to tell my family I was brave. That out of all the Fenrir men who came with you, I lasted the longest."

"Thomas, stop talking that way. We'll get you out of here," Katsuro pleaded.

But Jason heard doubt in Katsuro's voice. Thomas' expression made it clear he had as well.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you don't have a way, and you don't have time. Tell my family my end was honorable."

Before any of them could guess what he meant, Thomas pushed his gun barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

"No!"

Katsuro fell to his knees, cursing whatever G.o.d he thought might truly exist in a universe with too many people claiming the t.i.tle.

"I could use some help," Brandt yelled.

He'd already stripped a good chunk of the hall down to the metal plating he'd mentioned. The barrage kept their enemies at bay, but Brandt was tiring.

"I'll get Marie and Caelum over there to help him," Jackson said, and disappeared into the bridge.

"Katsuro," Pridament said, "there will be lots of time to mourn and question if there was anything more you could've done. But this man gave his life so the rest of us could escape. He recognized he was holding us back, and he took the choice out of our hands. He made the impossible choice none of us could. The greatest tribute we can pay him is to get out of here and live to finish this fight."

Katsuro nodded.

"Forgive me, Thomas," he whispered, before rising from his knees.

He turned and marched into the bridge, appearing seconds later on the other side. With a howl that shook even Pridament, he unleashed Sutr, his scimitar of flame, and charged into the fray.

Brandt changed tactics, causing the floor to ripple beneath the feet of the Einherjar soldiers, throwing them off balance, which made them easy targets for Caelum's arrows and Katsuro's blade.

A dark blur moved among the soldiers, who randomly spouted geysers of blood from their throats and fell dead.

With her weapons, loops with a sharpened edge that extended into protruding blades, Marie could speed ahead, arms in front, her hands encased in lethal steel.