DIVINE CHAMPIONS 6: A FINAL CONFLICT

MAGIC: DIFFERENTIATION AND INTEGRATION

Rick felt like he might just die, as he saw that paw of the size of Statue of Liberty's head closed in on him, and he, a master sorcerer, was petrified in his spot. But Rishi's lightning saved him, and the paw landed close by, jerking Rick's entire body.

As he got up, he checked himself for broken bones. Finding none, he joined into the fight. His illusion kept Fenrir busy and irritated. But on the other hand, the other four could barely keep up with that wretched tail. As if it had a mind of its own. Rick saw his best friend slide down under the Wolf's body, and pick the rope. He coiled it around the hindleg, but a sudden movement of the leg got the coil away. Aitri helped Mikael and Ishaan up, who had turned into the phoenix, as he flew close and poked Fenrir's eyes. Fenrir caught hold of him, bit him and threw him down. The phoenix of Ishaan burst to flames, and out of it, Ishaan came back into his form. Now, he couldn't use that side of himself anymore for a while. Otherwise, he would turn into a phoenix chick.

Mikael hit this time and froze Fenrir's feet in the place. Rishi and Aitri got to coil the rope again, but Fenrir broke off the ice quickly, and tried freeing that one paw that had been stuck with the old Gleipnir. The OG Gleipnir had something special in it. It had loosened up, but it just won't break. It had withstood Fenrir's strength for a millennium, and it was not going down easy.

Frustration was clear. At that moment, Aitri came close in for her favorite move, the suffocation. And an irritated Fenrir caught her T-shirt with his fangs, and threw her away. Wrong move. The Wolf's move was followed by a bombardment of lightning, as he snarled in annoyance. That was all that was needed. The last piece of the OG Gleipnir broke off (yes, Gleipnir was torn), and Fenrir was now a free Wolf.

Rick thought that they had failed. He waited for Fenrir to jump into the water, swim away and start his destruction. But no. Fenrir, though happy to be free of his prison, seemed without ideas of where to go. He had no idea of how to get off this island. That's when it struck Rick. Fenrir could do anything, but unlike other wolves of and under his age, he couldn't swim. And Lyngvi was perfect for containing him. It was an island, surrounded by water. It was big enough to allow him to move as much as he could while being bound, but small enough for him to not get a proper runup to make a jump across the lake to Jan Mayen. Even if he did, how would he get away from Jan Mayen?

Rishi gave the others an all knowing smile, and spoke, "No way out, son of Loki."

"Gaah!" He growled, visibly frustrated that he was in a much bigger prison than he had initially anticipated. And he took his frustration out on the ground. "Wretched island!" He screamed, and then growled, and then started jumping. The whole island shook, as if some earthquake had come. Rick lost his footing, as he balanced, and saw Mikael fall into the water. Rishi was also falling, but Aitri formed some sort of bed like thing with the water that held him. And once again, the pain in the behind tail of Fenrir slammed her away, as both went for a toss into Amsvartnir. Ishaan had flown off, and was throwing fire at the Wolf.

Anger surged through Rick. The berserk Fenrir felt that too, as his constant growl turned to a little whimper.

Around him, the air took a sharp turn. The lake Amsvartnir turned wavy (very unlikely, but magic). Rick matched Fenrir's eyes. "I've had enough." He said. All control of magic went away, as the island's ground started separating. Landslide came across all of Lyngvi, Fenrir lost his footing, and his tail touched the water first. Rick was liking where this was going. He had just planned to exert more power than Fenrir using his magic. By doing so, he had taken the Wolf to the water, the one thing he was not keen of.

Fenrir's hindlegs submerged, and for the first time, Rick heard Fenrir's voice in a tone that was not of anger or annoyance, rather of worry. He picked up the new Gleipnir, as his friends somehow stood on the little shards of Lyngvi. Fenrir's chest was now underwater. And he was now using his paws to stay afloat. Rick gave Rishi a smile, who nodded. He swirled the rope into a lasso, and threw it at Fenrir's neck. The rope curled around the Wolf's neck. Rishi came and somehow held the other end of the rope, while Aitri worked on her powers to integrate the shards of the island back. It didn't take her long at all, given she had mastered her own powers. The next sort of help they got was from Mikael, who, as soon as the island was back integrated, turned into his elephant form, and with his trunk, pulled the rope. Rick somehow managed to conjure up his magical strength, and combined with Mik's elephant strength, and Rishi's Thor-strength, they succeeded in getting Fenrir back up.

They were quick. Before Fenrir could react, Rishi coiled the rope around every single of his paws, and tied him to the stakes. Fenrir tried to pull himself out. But he could barely do anything. The last straw was made when Rishi tied his chest to two more stakes. Then, he removed the lasso, and said, "I loosened your bounds. It'll pain less."

"Yeah, thanks for nothing." Fenrir said, "If you live through this, champions, I promise that the next time I see you, I'll slay you all personally."

Rishi didn't answer. There was no answer. Rick knew that. If Ragnarok was centuries away, well and good. If not, and they had to take part in that war of doom, Rick could imagine Fenrir's threats come true.

But they could not think of it for long. There were other pressing charges at hand.

The world needed saving. Rick's home needed saving.