“So you escaped Adlivun?” Tyr asked Loki, who immediately looked at him with a sarcastic smile.

  “You already know, Tyr, there ain’t no jail that can hold me for long,” the Norse dark god replied to the god of war.

  “I’m guessin’ you conned those folks with your lies, tellin’ ’em meow knew where Father Odin was, and that’s why they let moew slip on out,” Freyja snapped, annoyed at the Norse dark god.

  “My dear, beautiful Freyja— is now really the time to argue about how I escaped, while we’ve got that guy up there staring at us like that?” Loki asked, and the goddess kept glaring at him with contempt.

  “Loki’s right, Freyja,” Thor said. “We gotta take down that crow up there first.”

  Y’aahl watched his gods get defeated and saw the humans flee from what they believed was the Raven God’s imminent defeat. Abandoned, the deity ground his teeth in rage.

  “This civilization,” he said, “was created by me. How dare you make them doubt me?” Y’aahl roared.

  The Raven God conjured a massive shell beneath his feet. With birdlike talons, he lifted it—and beneath it appeared a dozen Haida soldiers, radiating dark energy, their eyes glowing red.

  “Go! Kill those invaders!” the Raven God shouted as he flew above them.

  They looked exactly like the human soldiers of Haida Gwaii, except these appeared demonic.

  “Don’t you think that bird god’s underestimating us?” Tyr asked as the soldiers leapt from the altar and landed on the ship Freyr had created.

  “No,” Loki said, smiling. “Those are shadow soldiers. Physical attacks won’t work on them.”

  The soldiers surrounded the gods, while Y’aahl circled above the members of Orniskem who stood on the stands.

  “Are all the women across the ocean as beautiful as you three—or that blonde one over there?” the Raven God asked, still flying in circles above the three goddesses.

  “We Haida are the most powerful beings in the universe. Surrender, and I’ll only make you my sexual slaves,” he threatened.

  “That’s the worst offer I’ve ever heard in my life,” Menrva replied, summoning her electric spear.

  “And what makes you think you’ll win?” Ana asked, calling forth her sword Gram.

  “You talk too much for a crow,” Epona said, settling into a fighting stance.

  “Right now, you will witness me destroy those gods for the audacity of invading my lands,” Y’aahl declared, landing on the highest point of the arena. The sun shone behind him, majestic.

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  The Norse gods began firing their techniques at the shadow soldiers, but nothing worked. The thunder and beams of light Thor and Freyr unleashed passed straight through them without even making them flinch. The soldiers attacked—and even though the gods raised their defenses, the strikes went through them, ignoring their armor.

  “I can’t hurt ’em!” Thor shouted, furious, raining lightning uselessly.

  “Me neither, Thorsy ?,” Freyr said—his light doing nothing to the enemies.

  “We gotta find a fix, meow—quickly, so we can fight ’em,” Freyja said.

  “I’ve got an idea!” Tyr shouted. “Freyr—make the ship disappear and we all jump!”

  “You’re trying to drown them. It won’t work,” Loki yelled.

  “And why the hell should we believe you?” Tyr snapped.

  “Because I’m the only one here with mental powers, you muscle-brained idiot!” Loki shouted. “Not Thor, not you, not the erotic siblings—only me.”

  “Alright then, genius. Tell us—how do we win, meow?” Freyja asked impatiently.

  “The only way is to defeat him. So you’ll need to hold out a few more minutes. Can you do that?” Loki asked, confident.

  “What makes you think you can beat him?” Thor demanded.

  “Because he’s a trickster like me. Our fights are built on traps, not raw combat skills,” Loki answered.

  “That’s true, man in black—I am a trickster,” Y’aahl said. “But I think you underestimate me if you believe I have nothing beyond deception and illusions.”

  Then Y’aahl raised both hands to the sky, and the images of the sun and the moon appeared in his palms.

  “A moment ago, I watched the boar-clad man create an antipode of light and shadow—an excessively advanced technique. But I can do something similar with ice and fire,” the god said, lowering his arms and sending both celestial bodies down toward the Norse gods’ ship.

  “Watch out—attack incoming!” Thor shouted as he kept fighting the shadows, just like the others.

  “The enormous difference is how long I’ve endured this anti-divinity barrier. The difference in our power is… this!” the Raven God roared, clapping his hands together.

  The sun and moon he created collided right where the gods were fighting. Then Y’aahl shouted:

  “Kúng isgyáan Juuyáay sqet gaulda? (Explosive collision of the sun and the moon)!”

  The two elements detonated into a massive white-and-red explosion—like a colossal iceberg wrapped in flames. The blast produced a towering vertical beam of light, shook the ship violently, and flipped it. Thor and the others fell into the water. The ship’s prow cracked significantly under the impact.

  The lifeless bodies of Thor, Freyja, Freyr, Tyr, and Loki floated in the water—shredded, nearly unrecognizable. Heads, torsos, arms—violently mutilated by the Raven God’s overwhelming power. Y’aahl laughed with absolute certainty.

  “No… he killed them!” Menrva shouted, frustrated, while the other goddesses looked equally shaken.

  “Why do I feel worried about Loki?” Ana asked herself.

  “Have you seen my tremendous power? It is unmatched anywhere in the world,” Y’aahl boasted down at the three goddesses standing below him.

  “Now join my retinue as slaves, and your lives will be spared,” he continued, eyeing them with proud satisfaction.

  But in that moment, a staff pierced straight through the raven’s heart. Loki appeared behind him, completely unharmed.

  “Impossible—your corpse is in the sea!” the Raven God screamed, trying to turn and see the dark Norse god’s face.

  “Oh, yeah?” Loki said. “Look again.”

  Y’aahl turned to get a better look.

  They weren’t Thor and the others. They were the very shadows Y’aahl had summoned—mutilated by his own attack, their remains now floating on the sea.

  “You bastard—I thought you were dead!” Ana yelled at Loki.

  “Not yet, my dear— not until I fulfill my promise to your friend, the ebony beauty,” the Norse dark god replied.

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  The next part will be released tomorrow.