then fired. My heart broke each time an arrow hit home and Odin grunted.
The two archers worked in concert letting arrows fly with hope of felling the great Odin.
But the All-Father still remained upright, even with half a dozen arrows piercing his body. They'd aimed for his legs and hands, purposely ensuring that none of the blows were deadly.
I let go of Freyr's weapon and willed it to defend Odin, then drew my own sword and circled Odin and the giant he faced. Being invisible was both an advantage, and a disadvantage. I could get stepped on or stabbed by both friend and foe.
Remaining low, I circled Odin as he thrust his sword into the giant he fought. Still filled with arrows, he battled as if nothing weighed him down, but I knew the effort to keep fighting would break him soon. All of his eight wounds bled profusely, drenching the soil of Central Park with the blood of the All-Father.
And then Loki appeared and it all made perfect sense.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
He'd wanted to be the one to kill Odin and take his place as god of gods. And he planned on getting his wish even if it meant cheating.
He'd gotten his giants to maim Odin, to weaken him so that Loki wouldn't need to fight too hard to kill him. He'd kept Odin in his ethereal prison to ensure he remained weak. And remained weak even on the battlefield thus increasing Loki's own advantage.
But he hadn't counted on me.
Loki stood staring up at Odin for a moment. Then he began to transform into a giant. I would have expected him to take on some kind of terrifying form but he remained Loki, just giant-sized.
Like a god.
He took two thunderous steps to Odin, then raised his sword. His thrust was met by Odin's parry as the All-Father had seen his enemy coming.
With Loki's concentration on Odin, I got close enough to his giant ankle and swiped my blade across his Achilles tendon.
That should hamper him somewhat.
Loki howled with pain, slashing a blow at Odin before glancing down to see what had happened. I back-pedaled fast as his hand swung down to hold onto his bleeding ankle.
He looked around, great big Loki eyes staring straight at me and seeing nothing.
Then he grunted and turned his attention back to Odin, on time to deflect Odin's oncoming sword. They continued to fight, with Loki managing to remain alive, despite being hampered by his wounded leg. I was beginning to wonder if Odin couldn't summon the nerve to kill someone he cared for, when one of the All-Father's blows hit home.
His blade plunged into Loki's gut and as the Trickster stumbled I could tell his ankle injury had weakened him. A great roar sounded behind Loki, and I glanced up to see Heimdall racing at the Trickster. Loki had taken too long to react and Heimdall plunged his sword into Loki's shoulder.
Loki fought to defend himself against both Odin and Heimdall drawing both his swords and fighting both gods.
But it didn't last long.
Odin fell to his knees, blood trickling from his lips, the point of a giant spear protruding from his breastplate. Another one of Loki's men had managed to fell Odin. With so many to fight I could see how easy it would be for anyone, man or god, to be defeated.
Loki's plan had worked at last.
As Odin hit the ground, a great explosion rocked the city, and plumes of smoke and debris rose from between the tall buildings. The earth trembled and began to shudder, dropping all the warriors, both Loki's and Odin's, to their knees.
In the distance between the buildings, a giant black tail rose high, flicking back and forth before curving around a building. I could only assume it belonged to the serpent Jormungandr, Loki's son and ally.
But the warriors couldn't worry about the city. They had to fight to stay alive. With Loki and Heimdall fighting each other, I thrust out my wings which sent the cloak flying to lie on my back between my two feathered appendages.
I flapped my wings and rose in the air, something that a number of Valkyries were doing with me. They headed out towards the city while I flew over to Steinn and pointed at the serpent as it rose among the buildings.
He turned and flew toward Jormungandr, and a number of dragons followed his lead. I wasn't sure how he'd manage to subdue the giant serpent, but my attention was also focused on