“Raven, you're needed in the Thor Quarter!”

  I immediately stood to see who had called from across commons. Logan Reeves. “Oh shit.” I thought, immediately running southeast across commons and heading to the Thor Quarter. As leader of Camp Asgard, and a child of the gods, I had some immense powers. I took after Loki more than my mother Hecate.

  Logan Reeves was one of the more powerful and higher up members of the Thor Clan. If he needed me, something was horribly wrong.

  Heads turned as I passed, they all at least knew of me. I made an effort to just be a presence among my people. Shortly after my passing, the majority ran to follow, and help where needed.

  A group of mostly Odin and Loki kids followed, a few of the twin’s kids, Tyr’s, and Njord’s as well. I understood what was happening the instant I saw the chaos before me.

  Blood and death filled the air, lightning crackled and smoke permeated everything. Bodies lay strewn about, both demigod and assailant.

  “What in Helhiem?” One of my brother's asked, in shock.

  “I have absolutely no idea.” I replied.

  In the near distance I saw a flash of green, zipping around, soaring and returning. Nova, with her wings and glowing sword, flew about, stealing the souls of the assailants.

  As far as I could tell, they were mortal or demigods, some wielding black blades that faded to mist where the spine should be. The blades they held were similar to the Godblade that Nova wielded, but felt more grounded. As if tied to the wielder. The majority wielded steel.

  I drew my knives, running into the carnage. As i ran, I felt my bones reposition and snap into place with a sickening crunch. My hands bent into paws, fur sprouting from all over my body. My teeth extended, sharpening and bending into fangs. My vision sharpened as I saw the world in all silver and gray. The metallic smell of blood overwhelmed my nose as I bounded and attacked one of the invaders.

  I bit into his shoulder, feeling the wonderful taste of blood enter my mouth. The cartilage snapped under the pressure of my teeth, and I sunk my claws deep into his chest.

  I felt his pain, the downside to my powers. The dreadful feeling of teeth sinking into my shoulder, and claws into my chest. I had dealt with it all my life, it felt much duller than when I had first used my abilities.

  This pain was nothing compared to the blade I felt enter my back. My powers immediately faded, my vision returning to color and my skin returning to its normal pale self. I felt the entire world blur, my will to fight diminishing.

  Before hope was lost, I saw a green blur from the corner of my eye. My vision returned to normal and I turned to see Nova, wings outstretched, drag the attacker off my back. She held his neck, and summoned her blade into it. A faintly green steel dagger sprouted from his neck.

  “Need help?”

  “By Loki’s wolves, what took so long?” As I turned, I saw exactly why. A trail of gore, 20 yards in length. “Oh Hel.”

  Nova smiled, a rare occurrence. The human side of her formed into a smile, while her skeletal half remained pale and glowing green, smiling as all skulls do. She took off once more, black wings manipulating the surrounding air.

  I turned into a wolf once again and attacked an oncoming invader. This one wielding steel. The rest of my brothers and sisters seemed to be faring well, though I saw some corpses of various animals. The children of Thor were struggling to regain the upper hand, lightning crackled and the smell of ozone countered the smell of blood and smoke.

  Their powers consisted of various electrical powers, the main one being able to summon bolts of lightning. With a touch they could cause one to be struck, or transfer electricity from themselves to the assailant. Thunder clashed as they fought, my pelt was wet with blood. The weather was changed, usually by the emotions of Thor's clan.

  An axe flew past my shoulder, alight with electricity. It nailed another invader square in the forehead, I saw his eyes actually flicker as the life left him.

  Odin's kids were also fighting, they wielded spears, as well as loads of ravens. They had a couple less outward abilities, they could see through individual raven's eyes, making them hard to sneak up on in combat. They were also very good strategists, and usually had wisdom to share.

  Disaster struck a few minutes later, a child of Thor went super-magnitized. It was the drawback to the electrical powers, it could cause all the metal nearby to get stuck to you. Most of the children of Odin nearby losing their weapons. The armored ones, not just the Big Three god’s kids, but also Freyr, Freyja, Tyr and Njord, flew towards the child of Thor.

  “*oh shit,*” I thought. The enemy surged forward, but as they got to the ball of chaos, it exploded in electricity and metal. Campers and weapons flew out from the child of Thor that got magnetized.

  “Behind!” Vera Ortega, of Odin yelled.

  I jumped out of the way, fur melting into skin, claws receding into fingers. My boots hit the blood slick ground, but I was too late. The horrible blade the attackers all wielded, had nicked my shoulder. I felt a wave of heat surge to the area. I twisted under the next strike, swinging my knife toward his neck, he hesitated as he swung his blade down. I rolled to the side and slashed at his chest.

  The blade connected, a sickening sound as steel sliced through skin and muscle. He staggered back trying to close the wound, blood pooling in his hands and pouring down his chest. Before I could finish him, he’d disappeared up and over the wall.

  I cursed under my breath as I felt the pain in my shoulder swell. It was worse than any normal wound, I could feel my nerves severing and the contacted skin burning. “What in Helhiem are they using.” I cursed.

  “Raven, you’ve been hit let me see the wound.” Vera yelled.

  “No time. Where is Logan?” I asked.

  “North wall, we almost have them.” Vera returned. She turned and ran with me, black curls bobbing in the wind.

  “To the north wall!” I yelled at everyone nearby.

  We surged the area, my brethren shifted into animals as we so chose. I was most skilled at wolves than other animals, some of my brothers and sisters were good at different wild cats or birds. All had their uses in combat. I slashed the stomach of one open, another i sunk my teeth into his neck. Within half an hour, we’d won.

  "Raven. What in Helhiem was that.”

  An eerie silence befell the battlefield. Invaders and campers lay indistinct in the blood and gore before us. The blades of the invaders were gone, just like the Godblade that Nova wielded. All of us stood bloody and exhausted. But then it happened.

  A low guttural sound from a body in the middle of the crowd. Said crowd parted, revealing a member of the invading party.

  “What on Asgard?” One of my brethren asked.

  A wet rattling breath followed the groan, which shouldn't have been possible. I had watched Vera strike this man down, spear through his neck. He stood shakily, uncoordinated and confused. He ran off, we were too stunned to speak.

  Others around, began to stand as well, wounds sealing. Before we knew it we stood among half the dead invaders remaining. Our forces had been decimated, but we had fewer losses than the enemy when the dust settled. Silence befell the crowd again, only broken when Nova jumped into the sky.

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  “I was here when it started, they hopped the wall in droves, and spread out before we were able to retaliate.”

  “The only slain were killed by those black blades, or your blade.” I mentioned. “Everyone get some rest and heal. Nova and I have some learning to do.” Everyone dissipated, children of Freyja stood in small groups healing the remaining demigods.

  “Raven!” Jackson Blackwood asked, running up to me from the front gates. We’d just finished in the mess hall, or rather, pavilion. The sky turning purple.

  “Jack. What's wrong?”

  “We heard reports of y'all’s attack just after we finished ours. Fucking freaks dude.” He was the co-leader of the Greek camp Mythos not 5 miles from camp Asgard. Son of Styx and grandson of Poseidon, he was a year older than I. My heart picked up its pace, worried.

  “The only reason we got out was Nova’s godblade, the rest of the slain returned.” I explained. Jackson’s nerves seemed to settle. “How in Helhiem did you guys survive? I thought it was isolated, our people are horribly injured.” I gestured to the groups of bandaged campers. I touched Jack on the shoulder and we walked and talked.

  “Our archers are top of the line, I know you guys don't deal in archers as much as us. We were able to force them to retreat after a couple hours.”

  “That's good. It seems they wielded similar blades to Nova’s, black and fading to smoke.”

  “Yep. They felt unnatural.” His eyes darkened.

  “Were you injured by one?” I asked, letting concern enter my tone.

  “Yes. Amber saved my life.” He hesitated, “I know how you feel towards each other, I do, I won't mention her again.”

  Charlie Amber, my sister, had left the camp without a word 4 years ago, leaving me here. We were 15, twins, and I was starting to explore my power. She left for the Greeks because she felt more connected to Hecate. I didn't entirely resent her for it, but she avoided me like the plague.

  “It's fine. It was years ago after all.” When I said this Jack’s face showed a hint of shock. Over the years I’d snapped at him and others more than a few times about this. He quickly looked away and changed his expression.

  “Can we set up a meeting? All important witnesses of yours and of mine? We’ll meet at your camp.”

  He nodded, “That works for me. Tonight?”

  “Around 7.”

  “Meet us at the admin building. And by the way how is Nova? Its been quite a while.”

  “She’s as she always is. And it really has been a long time. Godspeed Jack.” I concluded.

  I gathered my people, Logan Reeves, Nova Helkin, Vera Ortega, and the head nurse, Alexis Peterson. We walked the short short trek to camp Mythos, in the cold serene forest that lay between us.

  The air felt crisp, biting at the skin like a feral kitten. As we walked to the front gates of Camp Mythos, fragments of marble lined the path. Pillars, slabs, walls, occasional shattered blades, spear shafts, and crumbling busts of Greek deities. The canopy above grew less and less dense, stones at our feet lay sun-bleached.

  Jackson greeted us, Charlie at his side, looking down.

  “Its good to see all of you. It has been a long time.” Jackson stated.

  “Same to you.” Logan returned.

  We entered the massive stone walls, passing downtrodden and injured teenagers at every turn. Faces covered in many substances, ash, dirt, blood. The acrid stench of smoke poisoned the familiar lush scent that’d accompanied camp Mythos for years.

  “Oh, Raven, I can't just leave these kids-” Alexis said, distressed tone in her voice.

  “Go. Heal.” Nova said, “First can you give your knowledge on the injuries from the darkblades?”

  “I can, are you ready?”

  “No. The emotional bleed from me doesn't end well.”

  Children of Freyja were able to heal, but not themselves. They also had the ability to lend their memories and knowledge in small increments. In return the emotions of the receiver bled into the sender. The last time this was done with Nova had gone near insane.

  “Ah. Yeah.” Alexis seemed to remember about Tara Vernon. Instead, she turned to Vera. Vera nodded in reply.

  “Well, welcome to our camp. Sorry for its condition.” Jackson began, feet on the desk that lay before us.

  “Kinda to be expected.” Vera said. We all knew why. Invasion can't make a camp look any better. We sat in a creme colored room, leather chairs surrounded the mahogany desk, and the walls were lined with books. Each had different Greek symbols forming words, and some were written in Latin. Jackson, Charlie, and Arya, Jackson's sister, sat across from Logan, Vera, Nova, and myself.

  Arya was a child of Neptune, Poseidon's roman half. The distinction was simpler than some of the other gods, Neptune was more regal, less about storms, and generally less wild. More controlled.

  Jackson and Logan kept sharing glances, understandably so, if I were surrounded by 5 of the opposite gender i’d feel the same way. “Well, lets begin. What time were the attacks?” Jackson asked.

  “Around 3.” Nova replied.

  “Same here. They vaulted our wall and started the slaughter.” Arya stated, Nova nodded in agreement.

  “I don't understand why they did it. But more importantly, what in Hel’s name were those blades?” Logan asked aloud, inscribing Norse runes on the table with electrical arcs. Luckily the table was covered in all sorts of cuts and words and everything else demigods did with their spare energy.

  Arya refilled her ball jar with water she levitated across the room from the tap. Vera looked on in amazement.

  “Those blades were like mine.” Nova said simply.

  “They can't be like Godblades, only Death’s fullblooded kids have those.” Charlie broke her silence. I locked my eyes on hers, but she quickly looked away.

  Jackson caressed Charlies hand, seeming to ease the tension in the air. Arya spoke up, “Well, what if it isn't just them? What if there is another way?”

  “As I said, those blades were like mine. However, they felt more grounded, more tangible. Almost tied to the wielder.” Nova said, “Vera can explain the similarities in the carnage I caused and the carnage the invaders did. It could also explain how they stayed dead.”

  "Alexis lent me her knowledge in what she saw. The slashes are near identical, as if the bodies all caught on fire from the inside. The main difference is the darkblades or whatever caused the skin to physically burn. Nova’s blade makes the skin look like its burnt, but it doesn't blacken or char." She explained.

  “Those things are horrible.” I spoke up, “I lost all my will to live when I was hit.”

  “As did I.” Jack said, pulling Charlie closer.

  “And who are these people?” Nova asked, “I’ve never seen such violence without reason.”

  “I will conference with my mother. Nova your parents dwell in the underworld so you should come along.” Jack asked.

  Nova nodded, Charlie fiddled with the cut off sleeved of her tee. I leaned back in my chair, “Well, anything else we need to speak on?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Arya stated.

  “Okay then. Guess we’re dismissed.” Jack said.