Free War and Famine: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 2) by J.A. Cipriano

and why would I release the Fenris wolf?” Caden replied, his breath catching in his throat as he said the name. Something about saying Fenris gave him the heebie jeebies. It was almost like something monstrous was taking notice of him. “Isn’t that the wolf destined to kill you?”
    “This is my spear, Gungnir. They say it can never miss its target, and it does not. Although your target may not be what you think it is.” He flashed a wry smile. “This weapon was forged by Brokkr himself, one of the greatest dwarven smiths. You must keep it with you when you break the impossible to break locks placed around the Fenris wolf or the frozen wastes of Jotunheim will freeze you into a solid block of ice.”
    “How am I supposed to do the impossible? I’m normal,” Caden replied, swallowing even though he didn’t mean to do so. Was this guy seriously claiming to be holding Gungnir and telling him to use it to break impossible locks? Even though he got the feeling Oski was telling the truth, he wasn’t quite sure he believed he could do it, despite everything he had seen. It was one thing, after all, to know the Norse gods were real. It was quite another to believe he could be anything other than ineffectual to their plans. He was Jimmy Olsen after all, not Superman.
    “Indeed. It is impossible to break the locks, but that is precisely why you are the only one who can do it. I have watched you since you were a tiny child. You can do this.” Oski smiled, and Caden felt warmth and courage surge through him. It was like someone had turned on a sunrise inside of him. “All you need to do is gather up nine objects that do not exist and use them on each of the locks.”
    “Even if I believed you and thought for a microsecond I could gather up objects that aren’t real, you still haven’t told me why I should release Fenris,” Caden said, taking a step closer to Oski even though he wasn’t quite sure why.
    “Because if there is any hope of stopping the wolf from consuming the sun and the moon, he must be stopped before he reaches full power.” Oski looked up and his eye was full of sorrow. “Even now, the wolf slinks about, his mind free to influence and trick everyone. He can get into your head and make you think it’s so real, you’ll never leave. Except for you. You have no supernatural abilities to speak of. That makes you immune to his mind control. Only you will be able to sneak past his whisperings and break the magic rope Gleipnir. Once he is free of that fetter, he can be killed.”
    “So your big plan is for me to let a magical wolf free so he can be killed?” Caden asked as Oski strode toward him. “How can I, a mere mortal, kill a god?”
    “Caden, we’re standing outside a church. If there’s one thing you should have learned by now, it’s that humans are quite proficient at killing gods. This time is no different. If you don’t stop Fenris, he’ll take out the horsemen one by one, and if that happens, we’re all doomed. Only they will be able to stop my blood brother when he rises. They can’t do that if they are all dead.” Oski pressed the tube he’d taken from his satchel into Caden’s hand. It was cold to the touch, reminding Caden of snowballs hastily packed by gloveless hands. “And he will rise. That is his destiny.”
    “So if I don’t let the wolf free, he will kill Ian, Kim, and Amy?” As Caden said the words the truth of them wrapped around him like a warm blanket. “And if I let him out, he will kill you? That’s a terrible plan.”
    Oski merely nodded. “Sometimes the best way forward is simply to muddle onward.” Overhead, lightning cracked across the sky, and for the briefest of moments, the sky turned the color of blood. Caden turned away from the flash, spots dancing across his eyes and when he looked back, not only was Oski gone, but his bike was gone too.
    Caden approached the spot where the biker had been, still blinking his sight back into focus when a piece of