First Demonic Dragon

Currently, Abaddon and Lillian were seated at the table with Sif.

Something that they had prided themselves on as parents was that even though their kids could be rowdy, they had never stressed them out or made them feel like they had to pick up a belt.

But after four minutes of talking to Sif and trying to dissuade her from going to Asgard, they were more stressed than they had ever been with any of their children, and seriously considering picking up a belt.

Even now, the two of them were moments away from tearing their precious hair out as they tried to get their point across one final time.

“Sif…” Abaddon began as patiently as possible. “We cannot in good conscience allow you to return home given Lillian’s premonition and the present circumstances that no doubt await you.”

Abaddon was proud of himself, as her felt like he had sufficiently controlled his impulses and did not say anything that was mean or unnecessary.

Sif dragged her fingers over the wood of the table absentmindedly. “Be that as it may… I feel I must go despite the danger.”

“You stupid little she-beast.” He blurted.

“What was that you muscle bound bitch!?”

“I’ll show you a bitch, step outside so I can bury you headfirst in the fucking grou-“

“OKAY!” Lillian clapped her hands as she showed a smile that wasn’t a smile. “We are ALL friends here, so theres no need for us to talk to each other that way, is there?”

Both of them folded their arms and looked away from each other.

“Honestly… Why do the two of you have to be like this?” Lillian asked in exhaustion.

The pair let out twin huffs and continued not to look at each other.

Lillian discreetly kicked Abaddon underneath the table.

‘Be. Nice.’ she reminded telepathically.

Even though he had a few more choice words for his dumb friend, he held back out of his love for Lillian.

Before he could say anything else, Sif’s small voice beat him to it.

“I know that you both think that I am being selfish…or even foolish. But I ask you honestly, if it was one of your children who you needed to reunite with, would you not do the same?”

Abaddon and Lillian both looked like they had been caught with their pants down.

Lillian: “T-This isn’t about us!”

Abaddon: “Haven’t you heard the words ‘do as I say, not as I do’?!”

Sif smirked at her friends, understanding her victory was close at hand.

“I am touched that you fear for me, but I must do this. My Thrudd was still injured when last I left. I must see to her injuries and visit my Ullr while I am able.”

Neither Abaddon nor Lillian said anything, because they knew that Belloc was the reason why Thrudd was on death’s door at one point.

Even though they had no reason to, they felt slightly guilty.

“Please, if you are concerned for me, then help me do this safely. If there should be anyone capable of getting me in and out of Asgard undetected, it is the two of you.”

Abaddon rubbed his head like he was undergoing a massive migraine.

His mind ran rampant with the numerous possibilities for all of this to go wrong.

What Sif was asking for just wasn’t logical.

There was no reason to allow her to do this.

And yet he knew that he should.

She wasn’t a prisoner, she wasn’t his wife, and she wasn’t his child.

He had no right to keep her here, even if his intentions were coming from the best of places.

He just hoped… that he would not come to regret this decision in the future.

Sif tilted her head to the side in confusion, but gave him her palm nonetheless.

The dragon took his claw and began tracing some sort of rune over her palm in complete silence.

“…Zheng.”

Once again, the golden masked oni arose from the dark shadows in the room.

After glaring at Sif for stepping on his head earlier, he dropped to one knee in front of Abaddon and Lillian.

“Lord?”

“Gather twenty-five of your very best. You’ll be escorting Sif here to and from Asgard, hopefully with her children in tow. I’m giving her a sigil to get you home instantly, so you shouldn’t need to use Camazotz more than once.”

“Understood. When do we leave?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“We will be ready in five.”

Zheng sank back into the floor and left immediately to begin making preparations.

Abaddon finished tracing the sigil onto Sif’s small hand and released her.

She stared at her palm momentarily before returning her gaze towards his face.

“Truly… thank you for-“

“You should get ready. Camazotz has a habit of sleeping in Mira’s bed for as long as Bekka.”

For some reason, Sif looked slightly dejected. “Oh… I suppose you are right… I’ll be going then.”

Sif stood up from the table and left the couple alone with only each other’s company.

Frustrated and exhausted, Abaddon let his body go limp as he hung his head off the back of his chair.

It didn’t take long before he felt Lillian straddle him and rest her head in the crook of his neck.

“Don’t be mad at her. She may be our friend, but she is an adult who has to make her own choices.

We have to take solace in the fact that we’ve done all we can to help her, and pray that she gets back safely without issue.”

Abaddon knew that Lillian was right, but he could not shake the deeply disturbed feeling he’d been getting since earlier.

“…Do you think all Nords are this difficult, or do you think it’s just her?” he finally asked.

“It’s probably just her, dearie.”

“Everyday I thank the creator that our little Thea inherited none of her personality traits. What would I do if she were that hardheaded?”

“Is this a bad time to tell you that she and Apophis got some tattoos without your permission?”

“WHAT?!”

Laughing, Lillian kissed Abaddon on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled his scent.

“Everything will work out, honey. Let’s just have a little faith that things will turn out better than what you or I expected.”

“It has no choice but to turn out fine…” Abaddon hugged Lillian’s soft body tightly as if he was afraid she would turn to smoke and fade away.

“Because I absolutely refuse to tell my darling girl that her mother died just as she was getting to know her.”

It never mattered to Abaddon how big any of his children became, his desire to protect them from getting even a paper cut would never change.

And if Thea shed so much as a single tear over an unfortunate end to this situation, he would never forgive Sif for the rest of his life.

“Whoooo wants a mimosa~?”

Always cheerful, Tatiana suddenly emerged from the kitchen carrying a wooden tray with glasses of orange juice.

Exhausted from dealing with Sif’s request, Abaddon and Lillian raised their hands in silence.

“Why do the two of you look so depressed and beat down!?”

“Oh, you know… We’re just having a bit of an eventful morning, my love.” Abaddon replied.

“That’s quite an understatement…” Lillian agreed.

Tatiana looked down at the mimosas on her tray, suddenly finding them insufficient for this scenario.

“So if I want to get you guys to perk up, should I put more champagne in these or take my clothes off?”

Abaddon and Lillian glanced at Tati out of the corner of their eyes before glancing at each other.

Lillian: “…Both please.”

Abaddon: “Both would be nice.”

“I’ll lock the door.”

Needless to say, breakfast was horribly late that morning.

– 1 Day Later

Sif had never traveled in shadows before, and she found it to be a wholly unique and somewhat chilling experience.

Her surroundings were total darkness, with only something like a pane of glass allowing her to see the outside world.

The only person she could actually see in here with her was Zheng, who wasn’t much of a talker at all.

The rest of the wraiths Abaddon had ordered to be on her detail were surrounding her, but she couldn’t see them at all.

All that was identifiable were their demonic white and red masks, and their glowing eyes.

It was kind of chilling if she was honest.

“Afraid, norse woman?”

Sif felt something crawl on the top of her hair, and an ugly-cute bat creature dropped in front of her face.

“…I am not scared, Camazotz.” Sif replied coldly. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Who does the Nord lie for? I certainly have no need for it.”

“I am not-“

“Camazotz does not know many things, as he has interest in very little. But Camazotz knows blood and fear. Nord woman reeks of the later.”

“…” Sif said nothing as she hesitantly sniffed herself.

This in turn made Camazotz cackle like a madman. “Kekekeke, stupid Nord! Fear is not smelt with nose, not perceivable with sight. It is the privilege of predators to understand it’s call and the burden of prey to exude it. And you, foolish Nord, radiate sweet fear!”

Sif didn’t want to admit it, but the bat was right.

She was afraid, and deathly so.

She had no idea what the situation in Asgard would be like upon returning home.

Needless to say, she was more than a little shocked to find millions upon millions of angels living in a refugee camp.

She was grateful that they had abandoned riding on Camazotz as soon as they’d come here so as to avoid the gaze of Heimdall.

It was the smartest decision that they had made on this trip thus far.

“Where are we going?” Zheng finally asked after a long silence.

“…Thrudheim first. I need to check on my daughter.” Sif decided.

Camazotz, and everyone within the shadowy domain heard her heart skip a beat as she made the decision, but none of them bothered to comment on it.

Zheng began ‘steering’ the group through the shadows, leading them towards their destination.

In the back of her mind, Sif said several prayers to whatever deity would listen that this would make this all go smoothly.

Because she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do if it didn’t.

And more than anything else, she just didn’t want that conversation with Abaddon to be the last one that the two of them shared together.

Besides… she’d begun to enjoy acting as a thorn in the side of the most ferocious creature to ever draw breath.

It was exciting in its own way.

‘I will show you, you thickheaded dragon… I’ll come back without so much as a scratch on me and make you eat all of your words!’

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