K.L. Armstrong Quotes

Matt pointed at Fen, "Fen's a descendant of Loki, trickster and troublemaker. Laurie is, too."
Laurie smiled at Baldwin.
Then Matt gestured at the twins. "They're Frey and Freya. She was a goddess of love and beauty, he was weather and fertility. And I'm, uh, a descendant of Thor. I'll ... umm ... fight the Midgard Serpent."
"Thor smash," Reyna interjected.
"That's the Hulk, not Thor," Matt started to explain.
"Whatever," Reyna muttered.

I wasn't thinking about them. "I was thinking -"
"Don't. You need all your energy for fighting or you'll do something stupid like use an aikido pin on a wolf."
"Um, pretty sure you're the one who -"
"Nope, you did." She winked at him. "I've rewritten the scene. You pinned the wolf. I saved your butt. It was epic.

Can I get my swans?" Reyna asked.
Hildar turned to her. "Freya does not have swans."
"Right," Matt said. "I got that wrong. Sorry. Freya is said to be the leader of the Valkyries, who are swan maidens."
"We are not swan maidens," Hildar said, straightening and lifting her sword.
"But you can turn into swans."
"No, we are not swans."
"Not even vicious killer swans?" Reyna asked.
"No."
"Okay, but I'm still your leader, right, Like Matt said, Freya -"
"No." Hildar hesitated. "You are not battle proven. You may lead us one day. But we are still not swans.

Once she was near enough to the Jotunn that she couldn't think of how it could possibly not see her, she yelled, "Hey, you!"
Nothing.
She tried again, "HEY! Flamey guy!"
Behind her, she heard Baldwin laugh.
Okay, it wasn't the best thing, but she didn't exactly know the creature's name.
"It's not working," Owen called.
Laurie rolled her eyes. He wasn't as helpful as he seemed to think he was lately.

A third bleat, impatient now, and he turned to see a snow-white goat with golden horns and black spots under its eyes.
"Hey, Tanngrisnir." He hugged the goat. When he realized what he was doing, he pulled back fast, but Tanngnjóstr pushed forward, clearly expecting the same greeting his brother got. Matt gave it to him - after checking to be sure no one was watching.

There's something in there," Matt said. "Something alive. It punched me."
"Punched you?" Baldwin's face screwed up. "Are you sure a bat didn't fly into you? I bet there are a few in there."
Matt rubbed his tender jaw. "Unless its name is Bruce Wayne, that wasn't a bat.

A footfall crunched behind him. He turned to see Reyna heading his way with the cat at her side. He grinned at them, and Reyna stopped short, glancing over her shoulder as if looking for the cause of his grin.
"Someone spike you prefight Gatorade?" she asked.
"No, I'm just happy to see -" He rocked back on his heels. "Happy to see the cat is still with you. Have you picked a name yet?"
"What are my options again?"
"Trjegul, Bygul, and Heyyu."
"Tree-gool and Bee-gool?" she said. "And Hey-yu?" She stopped. "Hey, you. Oh. Ha-ha. Leave comedy to the professionals, Thorsen."
He shrugged. "You could always ask the cat what her name is."
"Nope. I pick Trjegul." She looked down at the calico. "You're Trjegul now. Even if you're really Bygul."
The cat only blinked.
"So if I call you by your name, you'll come, right?"
Trjegul got up and wandered off in the other direction.
"Watch out or I'll trade you for a swan!" Reyna called after her. "A giant, killer stealth swan that eats ungrateful kitties for breakfast.

A sudden yowl from up ahead had them all starting. A small tree smoked on one side, the faint glow of fire darting from a burning patch of dead foliage. The yowl came again. Matt hurried over and peered up the tree to see a calico cat, its green eyes staring down, as if in accusation.
"No," Reyna said, stopping beside him. "We are not rescuing the cat."
"But the tree -"
"- is on fire. I see that. Have you ever owned a cat? If they can go up, they can come down. Guaranteed."
Matt eyed the feline. It eyed him back, then yowled, as if to say Well, hurry it up.
"It might be too scared to come down," he said.
"It's a cat," Reyna said. "They don't get scared - just annoyed, which I'm going to get if you insist on playing hero and rescuing that faker." She scowled at the cat. "Yes, I mean you. Faker."
The cat sniffed, then turned to Matt, clearly sensing the softer touch.
Owen stepped forward. "If you'll feel better rescuing the cat, Matt, then go ahead. We aren't on a tight schedule."
Reyna waved her arms around the smoking street. "Um, Ragnarök?"
"And the longer you two bicker ..."
"Fine," Reyna said. "I've got this." Before Matt could protest, she walked to the base of the tree, grabbed the lowest branch, and swung up. "Rodeo girl, remember? Also, five years of gymnastics, which my mother thought would make me more graceful and feminine. Her mistake."
She shimmied along a branch. "Come on, faker. I'm your designated hero

Rapid City," he said with a flourish at the lights below.
"We always stopped there on the way home from camping," Baldwin said. "There's this great ice-cream stand just off the highway. But I guess we aren't going for ice cream, are we?"
"Probably not," Ray said. "Unless it's being served by monsters."
"That could be cool," Baldwin said. "An ice-cream fight. Like a snowball fight, with fifty flavors of snow. Good, safe fun. No one ever died from ice cream."
"Unless they drowned you in a giant vat of it," Reyna said. "Or forced you to eat it until you choked. Or -"
"You're no fun at all, you know that?" Baldwin said.
"Depends on your definition of fun.

Okay, so Hildar said that Glaemir only has some of his people with him, forty or so, and I already told the ... goats to meet us there." Matt paused sort of awkwardly. "Hildar gave me directions that the goats could follow, so they're on the move."
"The goats are on the move," Baldwin said in a low voice before cracking up.
The twins smiled at him. Fen rolled his eyes, but like everything Baldwin did, Fen thought it was fine. Even Owen's lips curled in a small grin.

On my count, we're going to run," Matt said.
"Run where?"
"In the other direction."
Baldwin chuckled. "Sounds like a plan.

Astrid turned, slowly and deliberately, toward Reyna. She looked her up and down, and then frowned, as if she couldn't quite place her.
"Reyna? I didn't recognize you without the emo girl costume. Still not quite the goddess of light and beauty, are you? Big heels to fill. It'll take a while to grow into them." She looked Reyna over again. "Maybe a long while."
"Oh, I fit my shoes just fine. Today, they're a sweet pair of combat boots, because today, I'm playing a different aspect of Freya. Goddess of kick-your-butt-if-you-mess-with-me. Or mess with anyone else.