Stronger Together chapter 160

I completely understood why Lycaon had collapsed under Fenrir's gaze  when he was younger. I had been thinking about it like resistance  training, like I had been around enough terrifying things to weather the  pressure. But I had been wrong. Fenrir's gaze didn't crush down on me  like a mountain. I mean sure, there was that too, but I was actually  able to resist that fine, no the thing that made this scary was that the  pressure to submit came from ME.

It was like the  difference between someone forcibly trying to bend your leg as you  fought to resist or someone hitting your knee to trigger your reflexes.  Fenrir was like a walking talking version of The Wild Wood, he was the  primordial embodiment of the wolves at the gate, the crystallization of  predator prey instinct. Only my godsteel brain mesh let me catch my  reaction and strangle the shit out of it, but I did manage to do it.  Then he spoke again and almost sent me into another spiral "I'm waiting  boy. We will battle now. You protect the cub, I will take the cub, so  you will die."

I remembered what Gard said and I stood my  ground. "First off, I have other shit to worry about right now, so wait  your fucking turn. Secondly, I've been wondering for a while, why do you  even want Connor? You don't seem like the nurturing type, no offense,  and you definitely don't strike me as someone who worries about their  legacy. Tell me what you want and I'll even move your ass up to second  on my 'to kick' list." Everything I had heard about Fenrir and  everything I'd seen since I met him made his presence here seem crazy.  What did he even want.

He gave me an amused smirk. I got  the feeling he saw through a bit of my posturing but I had the guts to  face off with him and he respected that enough to let me keep breathing.  Or he was hoping for dinner and a show. Fingers crossed it was the  first one.  His wild eyes seemed almost melancholy as he answered. "I  have walked this earth for eons. I've done battle with gods and titans  and monsters. I've gouged the eye from a storm, ripped the heart from a  volcano, and cracked the spine of the world. Every millennia that passes  the planet becomes weaker and more feeble."

He shook his  head sadly "The art of war is dying, the behemoths of power being felled  by swarms of locusts and colonies of mortal ants. Bullets, missiles,  bombs, these things are the buzzing of a fly to one such as I, but  combined with the ravages of time they strip from me my worthy foes.  Soon my only battle will be my last, my only recourse for blood the  twilight of the gods, and I will bare my fangs against one eye himself.  Until that time however, I seek a challenge that I can pit myself  against."

He could obviously tell I didn't get it, but he  didn't get mad, he just smiled almost warmly "The weak beget the weak,  boy. The cub is something I have not tasted in years beyond counting. He  is hope. I will take him from this place, I will teach him my skills  and raise him up to be the sharpest most vicious blade I can forge and  when he has become everything I hope for in a foe, we will fight and one  of us will die." He bared his teeth in a wolfish grin "So I suppose in a  way, this is indeed about my legacy. The legacy I leave to my future  self."

That made perfect sense coming from him. Everything  about Fenrir spoke of a sociopathic obsession with personal strength.  Raising a kid prophesized to be the ultimate werewolf to be an  u8nstoppable killing machine and then trying to stop him was so classic  him I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it, and this was after  knowing him less than a few minutes. Fenrir might be powerful and driven  and dedicated but he was not complicated. However, that actually posed a  problem for me, it was harder to get something to turn from a straight  line.

I figured I'd try the whole bluffing thing again  "Well if you want him get in line. I met up with the twins already so  they have first dibs on the ass kicking I'm doing in the near future.  I'll squeeze you in when I finish whipping their smarmy asses." Once  again my voice would have shaken if not for my bodily control, thank you  godsteel nervous system. I decided since we were going with  kindergarten level bluffing here a bit of reverse psychology might not  hurt either "So, you going to wait for me to finish with tweedle dum and  tweedle dee bag or am I going to have to take all you mad dogs on your  walkies at the same time?"

He actually burst out laughing  at that, a sound so terrifying that if I had been drinking too many  fluids I may have literally pissed myself godsteel body or not. "You  have stones boy, I'll give you that. You noticeably don't stink of fear  though I suspect you may have done that on purpose, but I can see  tension written in every line of your body. You respect what I can do,  but have managed to conquer your fear enough to play the brave warrior."  I must have look surprised "Yes I know you're pretending. Anyone with  your level of strength who isn't at least wary of me is an idiot."

I  tensed up to get ready for a fight but he waved me off "Don't go  starting things off already now boy, I haven't decided to fight you or  not. Despite what others think I do value courage. Bravery is not only  the absence of fear, you clearly understand the stakes but remain  composed enough to put on this show. I'm impressed. However, that alone  does not buy you a stay of execution. Convince me of your cause boy,  tell me why I should grant you a reprieve." He spoke in a rough and  visceral voice but not an angry one.

He was genuinely  listening to see if I had a reason worth hearing, I'd gotten less from  most rational people I'd talked to so it was a pleasant surprise.  Personally I was just glad I hadn't accidentally screwed the pooch (pun  intended) with that dog comment earlier. That had kind of felt like a  bridge too far. The main issue now was how to actually convince him. The  real reason was because I was trying to help Tera and Connor, but  somehow I doubted an impassioned speech about the power of friendship or  family was going to win him over. I needed some kind of reason that he  would buy. In a fit of potential madness I decided to just try a version  of the truth.

I tried to frame  it in the least vulnerable way I could " I think we can beat the twins,  but it's going to be a hard fight. If we fight you first we'll be  worried about trying to conserve energy for the fight with them the  entire time. If we fight them first and you immediately after we'll be  wounded from the battle still and in too bad of a shape to pose a decent  challenge to you. The way you get the best fight out of this is by  waiting for us to handle them and then heal up again. We benefit here  too, but what you're worried about is your own enjoyment." I hoped that  was the right angle to use here.

It  seemed to be at least partially effective. Fenrir's eyes drifted back  off me to Sue, staring contemplatively at the massive predator "I'm not  against the idea. The cub's training can start in a month or even a year  or two, just means he'll be more able to handle the strain." He paused a  bit "Fine. You have a month to dispose of the whelps, once they're dead  I'll give you another month to recover." His eyes flicked back to me  "But make no mistake, boy, in two months, one of us will die. If you  don't want it to be you, you'd better be damn sure it's me."

It  took every ounce of self control I had not to sigh audibly with relief.  I just nodded. "And if you happened to get bored and decided to kill  the twins that would just move our own fight up." He gave me an unamused  stare and I put both hands up "I'm just saying it's an option. But  agreed. We'll have everything settled within a month and be ready for  our fight with you in two. I don't suppose I have to mention that The  Beast of Gevaudan is in town? I hear he's a sneaky fuck, though I doubt  he would have the guts to start anything with you even if we manage to  injure you in our fight."

The  massive man snorted, the force of it almost blowing his long black hair  back. Fenrir looked like nothing so much as a biker honesty. He didn't  dress like one, but he had that sort of air of a man who is dangerous  but removed from the world. Long black hair to mid back, olive skin,  five o clock shadow and ice blue wolf eyes in the face of a man. A face  currently twisted in disdain for The Beast. "Scavenger. That pathetic  animal would be no threat to me even on my death bed. He knows better  than to even approach. Deal with your task boy. Our battle will take  place at the appointed time. Whether you're ready or not."

With  that, he turned and strode out of the museum, leaving us all there  feeling more than a bit relieved for his absence, The precogs said his  aura covered the city, he must have a way of containing the actual  impact to a smaller area unless you knew how to look for it. Kara, who  had been standing behind me with Raven not speaking so as not to throw  me off and accidentally set me off into a panic attack, finally spoke  up. "Well, he was friendly." I couldn't help it, after all the tension  and drama and build up that one phrase just set me off. I burst out  laughing.

Raven  was next, just a light giggle which finally set off Kara herself. Well  all laughed uproariously until we were weak in the knees and leaning  against the walls and I was sure we would have drawn some strange looks  if there had been any people in here. Actually why were there no people  in here? I hadn't noticed when we came in because Fenrir's presence had  been so overwhelming but there was no one at all in this place, and it  was usually pretty busy during the day. I glanced around "I think next  time we need to find him might not be as big of a problem. I'm pretty  sure his presence causes people to run away in terror. Can't believe I  didn't think of that before."

Both  girls looked around and noted the absence of people. They seemed  surprised, given Kara could hear what was going on in Timbuktu if she  tried hard enough that said more than enough about how terrifying the  god wolf really was. Before we left I checked the spot Harry had found  the Word of Kemmler in Dead Beat, but either it was too soon or the  butterflies I'd been letting loose all over had changed the hiding spot.  My guess was the former but somehow it wouldn't surprise me if Bony  Tony decided to pick a completely different spot. Hell, who knew, maybe  today had been the day he was casing the joint and he got scared off by  Fenrir. With a smirk at the possibility we all left to go hime. We had  to catch everyone up on our stay of execution.