Read War and Famine: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 2) for Free Online

conquer fire itself,” the man replied, pulling her into a brick alleyway as fire hot enough to singe her hair roared through the street they’d just been on. Tires popped and melted into puddles. The asphalt liquefied, and the bellow of a thousand raging forest fires filled her ears.
    “Okay,” Kim replied, swallowing hard as she turned to stare at her brawny savior. “How the hell do I do that?”
    “You will need to find the sword Surt is destined to wield in battle. You must bend the weapon to your will, so after the middle lord falls, the sword will come to your hand. With it, you will be able to conquer fire itself.” The man smiled, and his image seemed to flicker as he held out one hand to her.
    “That sounds impossible,” Kim cried, shaking her head as another blast of fire ripped through the streets, reducing what remained of the vehicles to pools of molten metal.
    “I can teach you. With my help, you can conquer fire itself.” His smile grew even wider, revealing a mouthful of teeth that seemed sharp and menacing. “Unless you want to stay here with tall, dark, and flaming.”
    Truth be told, she didn’t really want to stay here with a fire giant, but did that mean she was ready to rejoin the world she’d tried so hard to avoid? Could she really use her mantle again? What if using it caused more of her friends to die? The thought chilled her, but not as much as the one that followed. What if she refused to use her power and both Ian and Amy were killed? Even now she could feel them somewhere out there, and just knowing that brought her a certain sense of piece. She couldn’t imagine not being able to feel them.
    Besides, what if learning to use her mantle had unexpected benefits? She was Victoria, the horseman of conquest, after all. What if by learning to embrace her powers, she learned to conquer not just fire, but death? What if that power let her bring Malcom back? It seemed impossible, but then again everything seemed impossible. As much as she didn’t want to rejoin the world of the impossible, she owed it to Malcom to try.
    “You make an excellent point,” Kim said, shaking her head as she stared at a melting light pole. The entire thing had bent into a pathetic U-shape. “Let’s go.”
    “You’re going to trust me? Just like that?” the man asked, amusement filling his amber eyes.
    “Just like that,” Kim replied, turning her eyes upon him. “If I find out you’re up to no good, I’ll kill you where you stand.”
    “I can live with that,” the man replied, offering her his hand. “Shake on it?”
    The moment she took his hand, everything turned to ice and sleet. They stood upon a snowy mountain top. Wind howled around them, chilling her to her bones. Foot deep snow covered the landscape, nearly obscuring a cave along the face of the mountain.
    “What is this place?” Kim asked as cold inched up her spine. A t-shirt and blue jeans was definitely not designed for this sort of weather.
    “Jotunheim. The frost giants home world.” The man regarded her carefully, his amber eyes full of mischief.
    “Jotunheim? Frost giants? What the hell do you mean by that?” Kim glared at him. “How the hell did we just magically transport ourselves to a different planet just like that? You need to explain yourself right now.”
    “As I said before, this is Jotunheim. It is one of the nine worlds that springs forth from the branches of the world tree, Yggdrasil.” He gestured around them. “This world is home to the Jotun hence Jotunheim since heim is Norse for home. Do you follow?”
    Kim took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stared at the barren snowy landscape. “I sort of recall the world tree from school. In Norse Mythology it was a giant ash tree that stood at the center of the universe. Its branches reached into different worlds and such.” Kim shook her head. “Are you saying that is real?”
    “Yes. It is all real. To a point.” He bent down and picked up and