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Lines of Shadow: Sequel to Somewhere Between	By : AceMaxwell Category: G through L > Hellboy Views: 4117 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellboy or any related character and make no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Prophecies
- 2-Reunion
- 3-Artifact
- 4-Inferno
- 5-Flightless
- 6-Valhalla
- 7-Fate
- 8-Broken
- 9-Seduction
- 10-Unleashed
- 11-Traitor
- 12-Overrun
- 13-Vows
- 14-Escape
- 15-War
- 16-Humanity
- 17-Ragnarok
- 18-Judgment
- 5
- 6
- 7
OMG, I wrote a chapter in less than a month! It's a miracle.

Also, this chapter is not beta'd. Please point out any stupid mistakes so I can fix them. I type too fast for my brain to keep up and things get a little mixed around sometimes.

- HB

The six Valkyries and I stare at each other across the hundred yards or so between us. They're the definition of calm, but their horses are going ape shit, pawing at the snow and tossing their heads. They're all armed to the teeth, carrying shields in their left hands and gigantic spears in the right. If a guy was carrying around a weapon that big, you'd know he was compensating. It seems like they're waiting on something. Nobody drags their asses out in this kind of cold, especially armed that well unless they've got something to prove.

I move towards them slowly, yelling over my shoulder, "Stay here."

"Is that a joke?"

Before I go ten steps, the Valkyries charge. All of them come at me with their weapons held high like they want to make me into mince meat. I grab my gun. Behind me, I hear 'Scout shouting something like, "Wait, we're not here to fight," but I don't think these girls are listening. I take aim at the one in the lead. My first shot misses completely and the second ricochets off her helmet. I don't have time for a third.

I leap back just as the first bitch swings for me, going into a roll to avoid getting smacked by her shield. The snow slides in under my jacket as I right myself, cold and wet against my skin. There isn't a lot of time to cringe about that as a Clydesdale-sized hoof slams down about an inch from my head. I swat the leg with my stone hand and the horse and girl scream in tandem.

The horseflesh slams together as they all try to get at me. One sticks her spear down into the fray, trying to impale me and missing as I duck beneath another Valkyrie's stomach. One of these chicks would be a pain in the ass to fight, but with all six of them crowded in the same space, they're actually easier to dodge.

"Enough!"

At the sound of the voice, all the Valkyries are gone. They back away from me, but keep me encircled. In the same direction they came from, there's another mounted figure. This one is actually a rider instead of some freaky, centaur wannabe. There's something weird about his horse though, something I can't quite… holy shit it has six legs. Then that guy has to be Odin.

Even from here, I can tell that he's a big bastard, easily as tall as me and almost as broad. He's wearing a bearskin across his shoulders that he probably killed himself in hand-to-hand combat. Mountain men like to prove how tough they are like that.

Odin dismounts and walks through the furrows of snow the Valkyries left behind. When he gets closer, I regrettably put my gun back into my holster as a show of good faith. I can only hope that's what he sees it as. If he thinks I'm surrendering, we're going to have problems. Not that we started off on the best foot as is.

He stops within arm's reach and studies me with the one eye he's got. The big, black bird from earlier swoops in and lands on his shoulder. It wasn't close enough for me to see before, but the bird also only has one eye and it's the same icy blue as Odin's.

"Look, we need to talk to you about-"

He walks past me, shoving his shoulder against mine. I have to grit my teeth to keep from calling him a jackass.

"Anubis sent us, we need-"

"Shut up, hell spawn," he spits without looking back at me.

I bristle at his words, my stone hand curling into a fist as I try to push down the urge to punch him. Anubis said that Odin would be difficult, but I might just have to duke it out with this guy.

He stares up at John for a moment before nodding at one of the Valkyries, "Cut him down."

She hands off her shield and spreads all four wings, flapping them hard enough to fill the air with snow. Ignoring my threats that his bitch better be careful getting Boyscout down, Odin follows after the Valkyrie at a walk. As bizarre as those things are running around, they're extremely graceful in the air. Doesn't seem like something that big should even be able to get off the ground, but she works her wings in perfect unison. The ones on her back control her direction while the really big ones on the horse are what give her the lift.

She grabs John's harness in one hand and cuts the mess of lines with a long dagger. When I walk back to the tree, the other Valkyries follow me. The one with 'Scout starts her descent and I can hear him thanking her profusely. Most of the way down, she drops him at Odin's feet. It wasn't a long fall, but 'Scout still grunts from the impact.

"Hey!" I shout at her.

She doesn't look like she gives a flying fuck what I think. She folds her wings and lands next to her boss.

Brushing the snow from the knees of his pants, John gets up and explains, "We came with a message about-" He doesn't get any farther than I did.

Odin grabs John's shoulder and throws him down. Before I can get the chance to be really pissed, he shoves his hand through the back of 'Scout's jacket. John screams as Odin plants his foot in the middle of his back and yanks one of his wings out. The position he pushes it into makes John howl in agony.

I pull my gun and stick it against Odin's temple. Whether you're a god or a mortal, a bullet from the Samaritan at this range will fuck up your day. I hear the scrape of metal on metal just before five spear points are pressed against my throat. None of them cut me; it's more of a warning.

"You've got three seconds to let him go or I'm going to paint everything in gray-matter," I growl, flicking the hammer back with my thumb.

Odin loosens his hold enough that John's screams turn into whimpering. His good eye narrows at me, "Angels are not allowed on my land. They are vile creatures."

"Yeah, we figured that out when a couple of 'em tried to open the gate in Eden. But this one's with me and if you break his wing, things are going to get real ugly between us."

"Why do you defend him, hell spawn?" he practically hisses. His eyebrows draw together but they're so damn bushy that they merge in the middle.

If he calls me 'hell spawn' again, I'm going to shoot him anyway. I've only got four shots left though and the freak show sextuplets aren't going to be too happy if I kill him. I'll have to figure out a different way to deal with them… "I'm fond of him, I'm saving him for a snack, we play chess on Fridays, what's it matter to you? I'm the one with the gun."

Odin glances down at John and back at me, a smile creeping onto his face. "He's your kjᴂreste!" He laughs sharply and proclaims, "You've got a long fall ahead of you, boy!"

He gets up and lets John go, still chuckling to himself. I lower my gun, putting it away only when it seems like Odin's not going to try anything else. I grab 'Scout's arm to pull him up. He's shaking a little. It's most visible in the one wing he's got out. I start to reach out to smooth down the feathers where Odin grabbed him, but that's just going to end with 'Scout sticking his tongue down my throat so my hand falls on his shoulder instead as I pull him close.

"You okay?" I ask against his ear, rubbing his arm through the thick fabric of his coat.

He nods vigorously and pulls his wing in. Even as he tries to reassure me, "I'm okay. I'm fine," he's still staring at Odin with wide, bewildered eyes. Not so sure I buy it.

The six-legged horse comes trotting over and Odin swings himself into the saddle. Wait, is he just leaving after all that?

"Hey!" I shout, jumping forward to grab the animal's reigns. It snaps at my fingers and rears up, flailing its front set of legs. I have to take a few steps back to avoid getting kicked. "The angels could be coming for your gate!"

With a sharp jerk to the reigns, Odin gets his horse under control. "You know nothing about my gate, hell spawn," he snaps, narrowing his good eye at me.

My growl comes out before I can stop it, "Call me that one more time, you son of a-"

"Red," John chides me softly.

"No, fuck him! We came all this way to warn you about this shit and you won't listen to anything we're fucking saying!"

Odin sits up straighter in his saddle, warning, "You will show me respect, hell spawn."

"That's it!"

My punch lands solidly on the right side of his jaw, knocking him off the horse. Vaguely, I realize that the Valkyries are completely still. Apparently fighting with him is not as bad as trying to shoot him. Boyscout, on the other hand, gets in front of me.

"Red, don't you dare!"

I gently push him aside. I'm going to fuck this guy over, even if it pisses John off. Odin's pushed WAY too many buttons and seems to think that I'm just going to take it. By the time I get around the horse, Odin's on his feet, his fists held at the ready. His grin is bloody from my punch.

"Well? Let's see it then!" he crows.

Fucking bastard is mocking me. My anger surges. Most people say you shouldn't let it control you in a fight, but I usually kick more ass once I'm mad.

Odin blocks my next punch and slams his elbow into the side of my ribcage. Pain radiates through my guts. Shit he hits hard. I throw my right hand at him and, even though he pulls his arms up to block it, he still goes flying. Odin lands in an explosion of snow, but he's up before the air can clear.

We both charge back into the fight, matching blow for blow. He picks me up by the lapels of my jacket and tosses me into the pines. I roll out of the way just before he drives his knee into the ground where I was just laying. My clothes are almost soaked through with my sweat and blood and all the melting snow. I'll be fucking freezing when we stop moving, but I can't feel it much now.

Off to the side, 'Scout is yelling at us, "Knock it off! This is not what we came here for!" Well, he's really probably just yelling at me.

If I keep ignoring him, it's very likely that he'll try and break up the fight and that could be dangerous. I need to finish this before he does something stupid. God knows I love him, but he doesn't always think before he throws himself into things.

I get an idea watching the direction Odin tends to move in when he's avoiding me. I start with a left hook that he dodges, but it puts him right in the patch of my stone hand. The punch lands in the middle of his stomach and he tumbles backwards from the force of it. A hit like that would kill a human so I'm not surprised when he stays down. He lets out a low groan followed by a chuckle as he rubs his stomach.

"Alright, you've earned my respect. What should I call you?" Odin asks as he gingerly sits up.

I really didn't expect that knocking him around a little would get him on our side. My blood is still pumping fast and hard but this fight has to be over. I get the feeling that Odin's respect is easy to lose, so I don't want to fuck things up. "Hellboy," I say as I offer him my hand. After a second of hesitation, he takes it and I haul him up. I motion to 'Scout, "And that's John."

John nods 'hello' but keeps his distance. He's bound to be leery after Odin tried to rip off his wing. Nodding back, Odin limps over to his horse. I guess I did more damage than I thought. He gets into the saddle much more slowly than he did the first time.

"Now, what's this about my gate?"

I explain the whole situation, covering Gabriel, Uriel, the destruction of Eden, and our fears. He listens carefully and, when I finish, he asks, "And you think they're coming for my gate?"

John steps up beside me, "We're not sure which gate they're going to try next, but it's possible."

Throwing his head back, Odin starts laughing. It's not just a chuckle, it's a gut-busting roar like John just told the funniest damn joke he's ever heard. 'Scout glances at me with an obvious question on his face but all I can do is shrug. He slows to a snigger and wipes at his eyes.

The wind picks up as he says, "It would be best to show you."

Suddenly, there's a full-blown snowstorm screaming around us. The snow comes in sideways on the wind, so thick that you can't see anything. I reach over to grab 'Scout's arm and feel him clutch my fingers. This is some kind of magic and I'm not taking any chances that Odin still thinks Boyscout is a threat. This is the weather Norway lives with and I don't doubt that he can fight in it, especially since it seems like he can control it.

"Odin, what the hell is this?" I yell but don't get any answer.

As quickly as it started, the storm stops and all the snow starts drifting slowly to the ground. I take a good look around to gauge Odin's position but end up staring in shock at our surroundings. We're nowhere near the place where we landed. As far as I can tell, we're about halfway up a mountain, looking out into a wide valley with another, much smaller mountain range splitting the valley in two. It's not so much a mountain range as it is a series of hills. The valley floor is covered in trees so thick they'd be easy to get lost in, but the weird hills in the middle don't have anything growing on them.

'Scout slowly loosens his hold on my hand and whispers, "Whoa."

"Yeah," I agree, glancing over my shoulder as Odin walks up next to us. The Valkyries and his ugly-ass horse aren't anywhere in sight. Guess he left them behind.

I've experienced a lot of different modes of magic transportation over the years, but snow? Who the hell would ever think to use snow? There are a lot of better ways to travel than getting giant flakes of ice blown into your eyes.

"You want to know why there is no threat to my gate?" Odin asks with a smirk. Before we can even nod, he cups his hands around his mouth and shouts into the valley, "Oye, Fenris!"

There's a low rumble and then the mound in the middle of the valley starts to move. The tapered cliff at one end lifts and two giant yellow eyes snap open. It's a fucking wolf! It's a wolf the size of a fucking skyscraper! As it sits up, it shakes the snow out of its fur. Slowly, it turns to look at us, a growl like thunder bouncing around the valley. With all the snow gone, I can see a large band running around its neck and chains with links the size of semi trucks anchoring the animal to the mountains.

"If that's guarding your gate, then I can see why you're not worried," 'Scout offers with a nervous laugh that sounds like a cough.

Odin shakes his head and braces one foot up on a rock, "No, that beast is my gate. You must enter it's maw to enter the underworld. You would need binoculars to see the keyholes on his collar from here." When he mentions the keyholes, he glances at my stone hand. "I didn't know that the demons had a key, or at least they were never meant to."

Fenris lunges towards us and the chains snap taut with a clang that causes a small avalanche on the opposite side of the valley. He's still a half mile from us, but when he slams his mouth shut, I can feel a breeze. He snarls and pulls at the chains, digging furrows in the ground and knocking over full-grown trees as he struggles. 'Scout takes a step back and I definitely don't blame him.

"Shut up you big bastard!" Odin shouts like he was scolding a family dog. "That monster is the end of everything. When he's set loose, Ragnarok will be upon us." He's quiet a moment and then drops his voice to a deadly monotone, "That key you brought with you had best not be for that purpose, Hellboy."

"It's not." I turn to face him. "I know whoever sent me up here wanted me to fuck over the world, but it's never going to happen."

He slaps my shoulder with a half-smile, nodding, "Good. Good man."

"How do you keep people from finding this valley?" 'Scout asks. It's abrupt, but he's got a really good point. With a world that's been explored in almost every corner and satellites taking pictures from space, it seems like a gigantic wolf would've been discovered by now. Unless everybody who sets foot in this valley gets eaten, which is a very real possibility. That thing looks like it could eat entire crowds of people in a single bite.

"Technically, this valley is not part of your world. It's attached to all the surrounding land, but it cannot be seen or reached from your world. The runes carved into the roots of the mountains keep it hidden."

"Powerful magic," I mention offhand.

Odin nods, "Extremely powerful and old. The spells were written when time had barely begun."

"So, even if he does get out, wouldn't those spells keep him from getting to our world?" John's question has the tiniest hint of hopefulness in it.

"Fenris was sired by Loki. No magic will contain him. He will cross through those spells and feel nothing, but his passing will shatter these mountains like ceramic."

"Great…" 'Scout sighs.

Fenris circles the valley on his short chains, eyeing us hungrily. I wouldn't even begin to know how to fight a monster that big. Its skull is probably thicker than the walls of Fort Knox. Even if you could get a bullet through the bone, it would be less than needle prick. It would be like a mosquito trying to take out a human being. Besides being an annoyance, there wouldn't be much of an effect.

"Well, enough of this beast. We go to Valhalla next."

- John

I shiver as the snowstorm flares around us again. The wind cuts right through my jacket and it was made for this kind of weather. HB must be miserable. With all that's going on, it seems like the cold would be the last thing on my mind but I've got frost forming on my eyelashes and that's really hard to ignore. I snap the goggles back down over my eyes in the hopes of keeping my eyelids from freezing shut.

When the air clears, we're in front of a massive building that looks like it's carved into the face of a cliff. Even from here, I can see all of the elaborately detailed engravings that make up the pillars and the walls behind them. The roof looks like it's constructed out of shields. Every few feet, there's a large window with orange light spilling out of it. The way the light dances on the ground makes me think it's firelight. The din that's audible all the way out here is like the crowd at a concert. It sounds like there's a party going on inside.

Beside me, I hear HB chuckle and look over to see him grinning. I have to ask, "What?" because the way our day has played out means that something is due to go wrong any minute and I have no idea what he's so happy about.

"It's Valhalla," he says like it's the most meaningful thing in the world.

I raise an eyebrow, "So?"

"It's Valhalla," HB repeats with an emphasis on 'Valhalla' but it doesn't make it any more meaningful. I stare at him blankly long enough that he sighs, "Valhalla is every guy's dream, John. It's like the best bar the world could ever come up with times a hundred. There's never-ending beer and food and these girls…" he trails off and clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "Plus all the greatest heroes who ever lived are partying here until the world ends."

Odin brushes past us and starts up the steep stairs that lead to the entrance, "Well, only half of the victorious dead reside here. Freya gets the other half… who knows what she even wants with them, the conniving…" He shakes his head and turns, "Come, even the great heroes of the world must rest and eat."

Hellboy starts up the steps without hesitation, but I don't know that we have time to drink and relax. We need to get moving. Twelve gates is a lot to cover even with Anubis slipping through shadow to visit them. He said it himself that there were places he can't go.

"Red, we need to get back to the airstrip. We're due in Athens in sixteen hours." I hate to be the voice of reason when he's so excited, but somebody has to do it.

He stops, his head hanging low between his shoulders. He knows I'm right. I think he mutters an obscenity of some kind, but I can't really hear it over the noise coming from the great hall.

"I can have you in Athens by then. We just have to hope that Athena doesn't notice me," Odin offers with a shrug. "She and I have been having a tiff for the past few centuries."

HB's grin returns and he looks back at me. There's a small pit in my stomach that's been growing ever since I laid eyes on Valhalla, but how many chances are we going to get to enter such a legendary place? He'll be sore about it for years if I tell him no.

"Alright, fine. Even heroes need to eat, right?"

Red gives his excited victory shout and comes down to give me a kiss before rushing towards the doors. I follow a little more slowly, shaking my head at his antics. Every once in a while, I entertain the idea that he seems like he's getting more mature as he gets older, but then he does something like that and I know it's not true.

I come through the giant doorway and have to remember to close my mouth. Rows and rows of tables run across the length of a room that would put most football stadiums to shame. Every single seat has someone in it and they're all huge men covered in scars. Some of them are arm wrestling, others are having drinking competitions, and the rest just seem to be drunk and rowdy. Circulating among the tables are blonde women holding mugs and trays of food. I blush when I realize that not all of them are wearing tops.

Even in a crowd like this, Hellboy is easy to spot. I jog to catch up with him and Odin. As we make our way through the hall, everyone raises a glass to Odin's passing. I study the heroes as we walk. A majority of them have classic Norwegian features that are associated with Vikings, but some are clearly not native. I spot at least one man wearing Grecian-style armor with plumed helms, possibly the source of the 'tiff' between Athena and Odin. I doubt she wanted her war heroes whisked off to this afterlife.

Red snags a leg of something off a tray as one of the women walks by us. A little flare of anger wells up in me when he turns to stare at her. I don't say anything but I'm really tempted. We finally get to the front of the room, where there's a table far grander than the others sitting up on a raised platform. There's only one chair at the table and it's flanked by two wolves. Odin falls into the chair without much of a backwards glance. Vikings weren't really known for their hospitality, so I'm guessing this is our cue to find somewhere to sit.

Looking over the crowded tables, I get a flashback to junior high, circling the lunchroom and hoping that someone will let me sit with them. Except these guys are a lot meaner looking than a bunch of preteens. Some of them stare back at me like I'm a member of a freak show. I'm only hoping that it's because I'm alive and not because I'm an angel.

We're not standing there ten seconds before Odin motions at one of the tables and bellows, "Make room!"

A few of the table's occupants shuffle away, leaving us a pair of chairs. We take the seats. HB tries to flag down one of the girls, but I take a good look at the people around us. There's a man to our left wearing combat gear from World War II, British I think. Next to him is a barbarian with tribal tattoos running across his forehead and cheeks. Strangely, the two are deep in conversation. I can't even begin to imagine what the two of them would have to talk about.

Several plates of meat are set on the table in front of me and the smell reminds me that I haven't eaten since we got on the plane half a day ago. There's an entire roast bird that could be any number of species, but I don't really care what it used to be. I dig in ravenously, the juices sliding down my chin. Belatedly, I realize that there aren't any napkins on the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the victorious dead roughly wipe his mouth across his sleeve and it dawns on me that napkins would be wasted on this group.

Mugs of some kind of ale join the food. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but this stuff is like liquid ecstasy. I've never had a drink taste so good. Even though the meal is entirely comprised of meat (too bad I'm not a wolf anymore), everything is amazing. HB doesn't even seem to be breathing between bites. I guess he's enjoying it too.

It should bother me that he downs three mugs of ale before I can finish my one, but it doesn't really come to my attention that it might be a problem until dinner is over. Red leans back in his chair, tilting it so it's resting on two legs, and proceeds to stare at the busty blonde server just down the row. I punch his arm.

"Hey!" He gripes and glares at me.

It doesn't quell my anger any, just makes it worse. "I'm sitting right here, Red!"

He snorts in response, loudly proclaiming, "I wasn't doin' anything," before he throws back his mug and chugs the rest.

Christ, he's getting drunk. I haven't had half of my drink and I can already feel that buzzing in the back of my skull. This stuff is much stronger than what I'm used to. It's like drinking shots out of a mug… if shots tasted amazing and didn't feel like I was swallowing fire.

As soon as Red slams the empty mug on the table, one of the half-naked women appears to refill it. HB's eyes immediately fix on her ample breasts. He probably hasn't seen a bare tit since he was in a relationship with Liz and that was almost fifty years ago. I'm going to blame his sudden fascination on his lack of experience with them and that there are more exposed boobs in this room than at a strip club in LA. Sometimes I forget that his sexual interest points in both directions. I can understand where he's coming from, but that doesn't mean that this isn't pissing me off.

"Hellboy!"

His head whips around, guilt playing on his features, "What?"

My brow furrows deeply as I study him. I must've looked hurt, because he starts apologizing and that's usually a last resort for him. Except that the apology is slurred and insincere. He tries to pull me to him, cooing what he knows I want to hear, but his amusement is scarcely hidden beneath his tone.

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to, so…"

I draw the line at being pulled into his lap. Much to his confusion, I shove at his chest and twist out of his grasp. "No, you tell me sorry when you mean it."

"John," he sighs, grabbing at my arm.

I step back to avoid him, nearly tripping over my chair. Hurt rips at my insides. It's stupid. I shouldn't be so upset when he hasn't cheated or even touched one of those girls, but it's the first time in decades that he's looked at anyone like that but me.

All of the dead around us have gone quiet, watching our interaction. I don't want to argue with him with all these people around. My face flushes when I realize exactly how many people are staring at us. It's Red's slightly glazed gaze that's the worst. I need to get out of here.

I shove the chair back into place and push a finger against HB, hissing, "If you do anything but look, I'm never going to forgive you."

A properly clothed server shows up by my elbow and asks, "Would you like to be shown to a room?"

"Yes," I mumble, dragging after her.

I only glance back once, but there's a tall blonde in a medieval gown talking into Red's ear. I don't notice his troubled look as much as I notice the way she's gently trailing her fingers across his shoulder and down his arm. My stomach does a back flip and I turn around.

The server and I enter a darker hallway tucked between two fireplaces and move past rows of closed doors. She's getting ahead of me, her pace much more brisk than mine. I'm too busy mucking through my thoughts to go any faster. I don't think Red and I have ever had a fight like that. Normally we shout back and forth a little and one of us yields, it's never just me screaming at him. Alcohol releases your inhibitions and the fact that his first uninhibited act was to stare at women tears me up.

The girl stops in front of one of the identical doors and pushes it open, holding her arm out in a gesture that means I should go in first. I step inside and wince. The room looks like it was furnished by a sporting goods store. There are animal skins spread across the floor and the walls and the end of the bed, and the light fixture looks like it's made out of elk antlers. There are two spears and a shield mounted over the bed. It's not the worst décor I've seen, but it comes close.

"Should I see your companion to the same room when he's ready?"

I shake my head, "No, he can sleep somewhere else."

TBC…

Oooo, tension in the relationship… Stay tuned and all that.
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Lines of Shadow: Sequel to Somewhere Between