A man with curly hair and beard sat on a large throne, as white as his hair. He tapped his finger against the arm, staring out into the room. A young woman with pale blonde hair, and hazel eyes. Her fists were clenched and she had large white wings spread high and wide.

"This is unacceptable! We cannot let him just roam free!" the woman screamed.
The man rubbed his temples. "What harm can he do? He has no resources, no followers, he's practically a child."
"How can you not see it? They're fooling you, Tinia! They've lied to you before and they'll do it again. You are just another block in their path."
"I know I'm not the most trusted, but they still have to listen to me and the rest of The Concord."
"The Concord is split!" she spat. "They can do almost anything and get by!"
"But Berstuck will never be strong enough to destroy The Concord"
"He's planning your demise as we speak!"
"Enough!" The man demanded with a thundering voice. "He does not have the power. No one does."
The woman's wings shrunk back, hiding behind her. "The Concord is already tearing at the seams, all he needs is the proper tool to finish it off."
"Others have beaten Berstuk before. He will be no challenge now."
"Time has passed. Forms have been banned. There's no telling how we've all changed."
"I will face him if it is required, but it will not come to that."
"How do you know that? What makes you think that Berstuk will fail? He is clever and he won't wait for us to pose a threat."
"I am tired of your stubbornness, Turan."
"And I am tired of your ignorance!"
"If you want to pursue him fine. Be my guest, but I will not risk anything I don't have to."
"He will kill you if you don't take action."
"Then so be it."

Corrine's breath hitched when she opened her eyes. She bolted upright and looked around. She was in the car they stole. The sun was hanging low in a pink sky, it's light casting dark shadows from closely packed houses. 

"Where are we?" she muttered.

"We are in Chihuahua," Eligos proudly proclaimed.
Corrine's eye's widened. "Really?"
Theodor pulled the car into an empty driveway. The house was made of brown brick, the windows were dark and the plants in the windows were brown and shriveled.
"Who's going in?" Brooke wondered aloud.
Orcus scoffed and rolled his eyes. "The three animals instead of the three humans, of course."
"Please, just... just shut up," Theodor said, rubbing his temples.
The three forms hopped out of the car. They slowly and wearily approached the front door. Corrine bit her lip and knocked on the door. Once the first knock rung through the house, muffled talking echoed back. Brooke pushed her ear to the door trying to hear, but the door shot open, nearly knocking Brooke to the ground.

Behind the door was a teenage boy. He had pitch black hair with eyes to match. His skin was dark, he had a large nose, and a weak jaw. He wore a black t-shirt, with a plaid shirt, and a jacket over it. His jeans were torn and his feet were dirty and bruised.
Corrine looked him up and down. "English?"
"More or less." He spoke with a heavy Mexican accent.
"Sorry to bother you but we're looking for a guy named Chaac. Know where we can find him?" Corrine hoped that if it wasn't Chaac he wouldn't know the name and think they're looking for a drug dealer who chose his name on the worse high ever.
"Wait. What?" He looked startled by the mere mention of the name.
Theodor shook his head and turned to walk away. "Nothing. Never mind." 

Brooke shuffled behind Theodor. Corrine gave the boy a shrug then followed.

"Wait!" The boy called out. Corrine waved goodbye as a response. The apocalypse was on it's way, they didn't have time for anything but finding Chaac. "Uh... um... ¿Cuál era ese nombre?" He snapped his fingers. "Turna?" he called.

The three forms skidded to a halt and whipped their heads around to the boy.

He hunched over his shoulders, ducking his head. "Was that wrong?"
"No, you got it right." She waltzed over to him, still keeping a close eye on him. "Chaac right?"
He brought his head up a bit. "Yeah..."
"You can call me Corrine if you want to skip the god's name."
"I'm Caleb," he turned to Theodor and Brooke. "Who are you two?"
"I'm Brooke, and this is Theodor." She forced a smile and hoped it would do.
"And your gods?" he looked apologetic, like asking was some sort of crime.
Theodor walked up to Caleb, not bothering to look happy or even content. "I have Hodr and she's with Ninhersag."
Caleb lead the other three forms into his home, but not before bringing the familiars into the backyard. The three flopped into whatever chair they could find while Caleb scrambled around getting them food and water.
"So, did you guys get hit by a bus or... What's the deal?" he said as he sheepishly sat on the couch next to Theodor.
"We got into a fight with another god," Brooke answered.
Caleb perked up. "Who?"
"Enchida or something," Corrine muttered, her face buried in her hands.
"Huh... Did you figure out what Berstuk is looking for?"
Corrine thought back to her dream, wondering if she could even call it a dream. "No," she finally said.

"Do you have any ideas?" Theodor questioned.
"Nope. Chaac is a little dumb," he said with a strained chuckle.
"No kidding!" Gaki shouted. She and the other familiars were sitting outside, talking through a screen door.
"So..." Brooke muttered, stiff from jumping at Gaki;'s screams. "What's the plan now?"
"Now," Orcus said, "we wait until we're on a gigantic metal bird with some sweaty strangers."
Theodor furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Tomorrow you are leaving for St. Petersburg," Eligos said, letting his head drop down.

"I was not prepared for this much godforsaken traveling," complained Corrine. "The farthest place I wanted to go was to Colorado. Where I wouldn't have my life on the line, and I could just relax for five minutes." She put her face in her hands as she tried not to cry out of frustration.
"Why Russia of all places?" Caleb asked.
"Berstuck is a Slavic god. Gods tend to return to their place of worship," Eligos said, trotting his hoofs up and down.
Theodor rolled his eyes. "Of course, they do."
Caleb looked wearily around the room before he jumped up. "Oh, I almost forgot."

He walked out of the quaint living room. Loud steps triumphed any other noise as he hopped up the stairs. When he came back into the living room he had a laptop under his arm, a sparrow on his shoulder, and sword in his hand.
Orcus jumped further into the yard. "Woah! What's with the knife?"
"It's a present from Chaac to Turan," a voice answered.
Brooke squinted at the bird on Caleb's shoulder. "Who are you?"
"I'm Buka."
"Nice to meet you." She spoke with questions lingering in her throat.
Caleb set the sword next to Corrine and she slowly picked it up. "Why do you have this?"
He shrugged "My dad likes to collect them. He keeps them sharp too, I'm not sure why..."
"I've never held a sword before. I feel like this may be a bigger hazard to me than Berstuk." She muttered.
"I was just told to give it to you." Caleb brought his hands up in defeat before sitting down and opening the laptop, furiously typing away.
"You may not know how to use a sword, but I do. You'll be able to use it based off instincts alone," said Turan.
Corrine looked at the sword in her hands. It was an iron longsword with black leather wrapped around the handle. She unsheathed it from its black leather sheath. It felt light in her hand.
"Do we need to be worried about your parents or anyone coming here?" Theodor said, twiddling his thumbs.

"No. My parents are out of town." Caleb tapped his foot violently, his eyes not leaving the laptop to look at Theodor.
Orcus sniffed the air, his face scrunched and he glared at the forms. "You all do look like trash."
Buka flapped her wings, smacking Caleb. "Well I'm sure they can find the showers, and I'm sure I could claw your eyes out if you keep being this rude to the other guests."

"Sorry." Caleb crossed his legs. "She has a bit of a short and... violent temper." "So, I've noticed," Corrine murmured. "I would like to use your shower. If that's okay?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, but before you do can you three look at this?" He set the laptop on the coffee table facing the other three forms. The screen was glowing with a bright news article.

'VANESA WALTERS FOUND DEAD OUTSIDE OF WILCOX CANADA

Walters was found off the side of a road not far from the small town of Wilcox. She had been impaled in the stomach by a large, blunt object that the police are yet to confirm. There were signs of mutable struggles. Police think that Walters' death may be connected to the missing persons cases of fifteen-year-old Theodor Rollins, and ten-year-old Brooke Demir who went missing four days ago. Rollins resided in Wilcox itself, while Demir resided in Regina.'

The rest of the article was information about who to contact if you had information on the three victims. Brooke buried her face in her hands, muffling her cries. Theodor jumped to his feet and locked himself in the bathroom. 

Corrine gave Brooke a quick hug then grabbed the laptop off the coffee table, Caleb didn't object. She opened a new tab then typed 'Corrine Romer' into the search bar. The page went white before it flashed with links and pictures, each with 'missing' being the centerpiece. She clicked on the first link she saw.

19-year-old Corrine Romer has gone missing as of June 7th 2016. Her parents Vincent and Bella Romer have seen her the night before her disappearance and claim to have heard shuffling and muffled talking. "We thought she has the TV on or something. We didn't know that there was someone else in the house." Says Vincent Romer Police believe this was a kidnapping because her car was still in the driveway, her parents did not recognize the voices that they heard, and all of her toiletries and clothes were accounted for. There was no sign of a break-in, but police believe the victim let them in without knowing.

Then there was contact information but she couldn't read it through the tears in her eyes. She wiped them all away and something caught her eye. There was a link on the webpage to an article titled: Oliver Heedy disappeared from hospital bed after car accident. She clicked on the article and began reading.

Eleven-year-old Oliver Heedy and his mother Lana Heedy were both caught in a devastating car crash. Police are not sure what caused the crash but from what they can tell is that Lana had a sudden health issue and passed out on the wheel, the car then swerved into a group of trees. Unfortunately, Lana died while her son was able to survive. Oliver was put into emergency care and one week later disappeared from his hospital bed. The security cameras malfunctioned and there were no witnesses, but the police have assumed he has been kidnapped due to his recent injury preventing him from going very far. Heedy has been missing since March 16th, 2016.

Corrine stared at the article for a minute. "Hey, Turan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think this could be Berstuk or maybe one of his followers?"

"It's possible. This Oliver seems to be exactly where a godlike Berstuk would want him." She mumbled to herself for a moment or two. "It's more than likely Berstuk. The dates match up and a child is just the kind of form he would be looking for. Someone imperishable and easy to manipulate."

Corrine raised her eyebrow. "Well what about Nnhersag? She used a kid."

The goddess scoffed. "I am not in charge of Ninhersag. I've no idea why she picked a child."

Corrine looked back at the article. "Do you really think any of us are going to kill this kid?"

 "No, but that's what makes me think you will all die..."  

Wattpad is still being weird with formatting, but I think I found all the weird spots, sorry if I didn't.

Thanks for reading!